Robust sales sees numbers soar for Sainsbury's

It hailed another robust performance for online sales, up 8% for groceries and 10% for Argos.

Fast track delivery and click and collect continued to prove popular with Argos customers, particularly in the heatwave, when it saw same-day demand for paddling pools and fans soar.

The group said despite slowing overall general merchandise sales growth, it outperformed the wider market.

It added there was disruption from the closure of 78 Argos concessions in Homebase and 84 Habitat in Homebase concessions over the past year.

The group opened 36 Argos Digital stores within its supermarkets in its first quarter, bringing the total to 75.

The food sales rebound comes as a welcome boost to Sainsbury’s, which warned in May over pressures from falling consumer confidence as inflation starts to bite.

The group revealed bottom line profits dropped 8.2% to £503 million for the year to March 11, while underlying profits fell 1% to £581 million.

It has been offsetting this thanks to the addition of the Argos business, snapped up last year when it took over Home Retail Group for £1.4 billion.

With the Argos acquisition under its belt, Sainsbury’s is continuing to look for brands to add to its shopping basket.

It is understood the group is now looking to buy Nisa, the network of more than 2,500 independently-owned convenience stores, in a deal worth close to £130 million, as part of a response to Tesco’s £3.7 billion merger with wholesaler Booker.