Sainsbury's sales growth year-on-year in Great Britain 2014-2020

Sales performance has been a mixed bag for Sainsbury's in the first half of 2019. What looked like an upwards trend in the first quarter reversed and in the 3 months leading up to the 14th of July. Sainsbury’s sales in that period shrank by 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period a year earlier. The end of the year similarly saw declining sales for the grocer.

Sainsbury’s in profile

J Sainsbury plc was founded in 1869 as a fresh food retailer in London. In its 2017/18 financial year the company made 27.9 billion British pounds in retail sales. In April of 2019, the company had to abandon a merger with Asda due to a block by the Competition and Markets Authority. The merger would have made the new company the largest on the grocery market.

The grocery market

Sainsbury’s competitors Lidl and Aldi have continuously experienced sales growth over the past years. While traditionally British grocery retailers have struggled to perform in the same way. This resulted in reduced or stagnating market shares for Sainsbury’s and other British companies.