More space for food in new Sainsbury’s strategy

Sainsbury’s has unveiled a new strategy, promising food volume growth ahead of the market.

The ’Next Level Sainsbury’s’ strategy aims to deliver further grocery market volume share gains by bringing more of Sainsbury’s food range to more customers, becoming the first choice for food for more people, and continuing to attract more bigger-basket primary shoppers.

It also promises to continue building up the Nectar programme with “personalised, rewarding and integrated loyalty and market-leading retail media capabilities.”

Building on Argos’s strengths in convenience and value, and investing in Sainsbury’s capabilities across technology and infrastructure - as well as delivering a further £1 billion of structural cost reduction - are also part of the plan.

Building on ‘Food First’

The new initiative comes on the back of Sainsbury’s ’Food First’ strategy, launched in November 2020, which was designed to put food back at the heart of the supermarket’s offer, reset its competitive position and create a strong financial platform from which to grow, reinvest and improve returns to shareholders.

Chief executive Simon Roberts said: “Our Food First strategy has delivered on its promise over the last three years, making Sainsbury’s a stronger business with a much sharper position on value and a major refocus on our innovation. Customers have recognised the progress we’ve made, as our market share gains have shown.

“Our Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy is about giving customers more of what they come to Sainsbury’s for - outstanding value, unbeatable quality food and great service. Thanks to our scale, our brand and our people, we are in a unique position to deliver for customers across Sainsbury’s, Argos and Nectar.

“We’re going to build on what’s driven our success since 2020. We’re determined to be First Choice for Food, ensuring more customers in more of our stores can enjoy more brilliant Sainsbury’s food. That means more space for our food offer, while still delivering the general merchandise products customers want from us. That way, not only will we find more ways to delight new and existing customers, we will also continue growing volume market share.

“While I’m proud of the progress we’ve made to date, we’re only just at the beginning of rediscovering quite what this business is capable of. By taking Sainsbury’s to the next level, delivering for customers and colleagues, we will also deliver enhanced returns for shareholders through a share buyback and committing to a progressive dividend.”