Sainsbury's customers getting their last big shop in before Christmas Day are set to spend over £150m in-store and online on Saturday 22 December, making it the retailer's biggest day of sales in 2018.
Record numbers of customers are expected to make this week Sainsbury's biggest ever for online sales, with over 220,000 orders set to be delivered - that's one dropped off every second - between today, Thursday 20, and Sunday 23 December. Extra drivers have been recruited for the seasonal spike in demand for online orders and over 2,000 vans will be on the roads to bring them to customers right across the UK from Penzance in Cornwall to Nairn in the Scottish Highlands.
Key Christmas products predicted to be going into baskets on Saturday include:
• Over 1.8 million packs of mince pies - that's 21 pies bought every second!
• 400,000 bottles of fizz, making it Sainsbury's biggest day for sparkling wine sales in 2018
• 4 tonnes of sprouts
• Over 200,000 packs of pigs in blankets
• Over 100,000 Christmas puddings
• Almost 40,000 turkeys crowns
• Over 43,000 gallons of cream
• Over 40,000 biscuit tins
Sainsbury's has invested in some of the most important products to make sure customers can find quality food at fantastic value for their Christmas dinner. by Sainsbury's Parsnips (500g), by Sainsbury's Carrots (1kg) and by Sainsbury's Brussels Sprouts (500g) are all over half price at just 30p a pack. With by Sainsbury's fresh turkey crowns for just £9, that's some of the key Christmas dinner ingredients sorted for less than a tenner.
Sainsbury's has also been working hard to create winning teams that can provide outstanding service to customers this Christmas. With a new approach to customer service fully focussed on putting the customer first, a new customer feedback system in place and technology rolled out to stores to ensure colleagues have the right information at their fingertips, customers will be able to find everything they need for Christmas.
Sainsbury's Retail and Operations Director, Simon Roberts, said, 'Saturday will be our biggest shopping day of 2018 and we've been working hard all year to make sure we have everything in place to help customers have a brilliant Christmas.
'Our stores are well set up for the peak days ahead and colleagues will be on hand to help customers find everything they need right up until the last minute, with over 800 convenience stores opening until late on Christmas Eve.
'Delivering leading service and availability is our priority and our store teams will be supported by colleagues from central offices working an extra 4,000 shifts in stores to help deliver a really great Christmas for every customer. I would like to thank all our colleagues for their fantastic efforts and hard work throughout the festive period.'