Morrisons loyalty scheme helps hike sales to £3.7bn
Morrisons has recorded a 0.9 per cent decline in group revenues, blaming a slowdown in sales across its petrol stations.
During the quarter, its total sales excluding its fuel offering rose by 3.1 per cent to £3.7bn, and sales across its wholesale channel were also up 20 per cent.
The former ‘Big Four’ grocery, which was ousted from the spot by Aldi last year, has introduced a number of schemes to lure shoppers back to its sites including a new loyalty scheme and fresh price cuts across its goods.
This includes the revival of its ‘Morrisons Fiver,’ which lets shoppers redeem points for £5 vouchers to spend in store – in efforts to compete with Tesco’s clubcard scheme and Sainsbury’s Nectar Card in wake of the cost of living crisis.
“Although we are still in the foothills of our new journey, we are making good progress in our plans to develop a broader, stronger Morrisons built on traditional values with modern methods,” David Potts, Morrisons chief executive officer, said:
“Inflation remains disappointingly and stubbornly high which means that customers are still very much on a budget. But our customers still wanted to celebrate important events and this quarter included Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, Easter, Eid and the build up to the Coronation Weekend.”
Last quarter Morrisons also introduced a £700m cost-reduction programme to help alleviate price rises for customers and steam ahead with its conversion of former McColl’s convenience stores – a brand it acquired for £128m late last year. Morrisons has so far converted 400 of the 1000 sites.
Potts added:”By the year end we expect to have almost 1,000 Morrisons Daily stores trading and significantly enhanced position in the important UK convenience sector.”