Tesco managed to continue growing sales in the 13 weeks to May 29 compared with a year earlier despite the same period in 2020 being during the height of the first lockdown when supermarket shelves were stripped bare.
Sales in its UK supermarkets grew 0.5% to £10 billion – up 9.3% on the same period two years ago before the pandemic.
Its wholesale Booker business saw the strongest growth, with sales up 9.2% to £1.77 billion as the leisure sector started reopening during the period with lockdown restrictions easing in April and May.
Booker’s catering like-for-like sales jumped 68.1%, although it was offset by a 4.3% fall in its sales to other retailers – typically independent convenience stores.
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In the Republic of Ireland, sales slumped 6.1% to £641 million as the grocer failed to match the strong sales from a year earlier.
The retailer’s central Europe division also failed to keep up with the pace of growth, dropping 1.6% to £940 million, although both it and Tesco’s Irish divisions remain ahead on a two-year basis – up 13% and 1.5% respectively.
Total sales were up 1% to £13.4 billion in the period.
The shift to more households using online grocery services looks set to become permanent, with 1.3 million orders a week being placed.
This means online sales are now up 81.6% on pre-pandemic levels and up 22.2% on the same period last year.
Non-food and clothes sales helped drive some of the growth in the period, with Tesco remaining open throughout the recent lockdowns whilst non-essential retailers were unable to trade until April.
General merchandise, which includes all non-food products, was up 10.3% and clothing up 52.1% in the period compared to a year ago.
At the start of the first lockdown in Wales, politicians faced criticism from retailers over rules banning the sale of non-food products, whilst many shoppers during the first wave opted to order clothes online.
Bosses said they were keen to continue pushing cheaper prices and have maintained their Aldi price match scheme on more than 500 lines.
Heavy focus was also placed on its Clubcard loyalty scheme, making it available at all 1,844 Express stores.
Chief executive Ken Murphy said: “We delivered a strong performance in the first quarter, even as we lapped the high demand of last year due to the pandemic.
“While the market outlook remains uncertain, I’m pleased with the strong start we’ve made to the year”.
