Sainsbury's issues warning to customers who do 'big weekly shops'

Sainsbury's has issued a warning to shoppers over price hikes as it issued its trading update. Sainsbury’s, which is rivalled by Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Lidl, said it had benefited from more people carrying out one big shop a week.

But the retailer warned of possible price rises as a result of having to pay £140m more next year in national insurance contributions [NICs]. Chief executive, Simon Roberts, said prices were likely to increase after the rise in NICs in last week’s budget.

Roberts said: “There is a big return to the big weekly shop, and we’re winning those big weekly shops just at a time that more and more people are going back to the office more days a week and going back to that weekly shop.”

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“Another key trend we’re seeing is customers continuing to choose to eat more at home, as eating out has become more expensive, and they’re recognising more and more the restaurant quality of our Taste the Difference ranges,” Roberts said.

“This industry operates on very low margins, and there just isn’t the capacity in the structure of the way the supermarket industry works to absorb these level of costs without some impacts on inflation. I think given the speed these costs are coming at, they will be inflationary. We’ll do everything we can to mitigate that impact but there will be inflationary impacts, because our costs are going up.”

“I think [changes to business rates] was a clear expectation that we saw in the manifesto, and we would strongly urge government to move more quickly on the reform of business rates for all retail stores,” Roberts said. “In fact, now on the outcome of last week, business rates next year will actually go up for us.”

He said: “Given the concerns that farmers are raising, and the critical role they play in our country, I really urge the government to listen to them and try to find a solution.”