Waitrose ‘misses’ sales target as staff warned of disappointing Christmas
Waitrose has failed to hit its targets in its fourth quarter, after owner The John Lewis Partnership warned staff of dampened sales over the festive period.
The partnership, which owns both John Lewis and Waitrose, blamed its performance on “lower consumer confidence and weaker than expected market confidence” for the month ending 21 December, as well as key trading days falling outside the period.
According to an internal document seen by The Telegraph, the partnership told staff: “Both John Lewis and Waitrose missed their sales targets.”
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
However, the retailer insisted that it had still outperformed rivals and told staff to be “proud of our performance”.
The results will come as a blow to the partnership amid the ongoing rollout of its wider turnaround plans.
The last few years saw it plagued by a series of challenges, including last November, when M&S overtook Waitrose in sales and poached the title of Middle England’s top grocer.
Last January, then John Lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White – who exited the business in September, succeeded by former Tesco UK boss Jason Tarry – pledged the business would “more than break-even” in 2024, following a loss of £234m the year prior.
4 Comments. Leave new
Well that’s a contrary statement to what Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland announced. Maybe Waitrose should realise their prices are to high and expensive.
Maybe they are paying too high a bonus to upper management.
We havnt had a bonus in 4 years ! Thank you
They aren’t expensive. Closest supermarket to me, and I’m on a tight budget. Sure, you can buy caviar and the finest champagne in there, but their essential range is fantastic quality at affordable prices – on par with Tesco’s prices, but at a far higher quality.