M&S said it enjoyed “another good Christmas” as its focus across food, clothing and beauty helped the high street giant to deliver its “busiest ever peak”.
Total group sales rose 5.6% to £4bn in the 13 weeks to 28 December as food revenue jumped 8.7% to £2.58bn.
Sales of new Christmas products grew 14%, while its core categories across meat, produce, grocery and in-store bakery grew double digits. The retailer’s ‘Remarksable’ value range saw sales surge 14% during the period.
Clothing, home and beauty sales edged up 1%, or 1.9% on a like-for-like basis, ahead of what it described as “challenging conditions”.
Online sales jumped 11.7%, representing 34% of total sales, which it attributed to “customer growth and improved availability”. The retailer registered a 1.5% fall in store sales, which it attributed to the wet weather.
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The retailer’s chief executive Stuart Machin said: “This was another good Christmas for M&S, building on a strong performance in the prior year.
“Sales records were broken across the business, with food recording its biggest day and clothing, home and beauty online its biggest week, but we’re not complacent – as a growth business it’s our job to break records.
Machin noted that in food, there were “a few growing pains as we delivered our biggest ever volumes, particularly in smaller stores”.
He continued: “The opportunity for clothing, home and beauty in 2025 is to continue offering customers the best style, quality and value, but marry that with a focus on turning stock faster, further reducing options and optimising store range and space.
“As in food, these opportunities simply make us more resolute to go faster on our plans to modernise the supply chain and utilise digital and technology to maximise our online potential.
“The external environment remains challenging, with cost and economic headwinds to navigate, but there is much within our control.
“Transforming M&S is a marathon, not a sprint, and we go into 2025 shifting up a gear and raring to go as we accelerate the scale and pace of change. Thank you to all of our customers for shopping with M&S this Christmas and to all of our colleagues for their extraordinary effort delivering M&S’s busiest ever peak.”
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