Clothing sales rise 3.8% at Tesco during Q3

Tesco has witnessed 3.8 per cent hike in clothing sales during the third quarter of fiscal 2018. The increase was aided by strong womenswear performance. In the core Tesco UK business, third quarter like-for-like sales increased 0.7 per cent. The sales during Christmas period gained 2.6 per cent, outperforming market in UK in both volume and value terms.

Over 74 per cent of the retailer's 10,000 own brand products were re-launched by the end of the third quarter, with the roll-out of the 'Exclusively at Tesco' range 95 per cent complete. As expected, and following a step-up in the marketing of 'Exclusively at Tesco', the retailer saw an increase in customers trading into the exceptional value offered by these products. Whilst this, and the initial disruption as it rolled out the new ranges impacted the value of like-for-like sales, by the end of the third quarter overall UK sales volumes were outperforming the market.

"As a team we have achieved a lot in the last 19 weeks. In the UK we delivered significant improvements in our competitive offer and this is reflected in a very strong Christmas performance which was ahead of the market," said chief executive Dave Lewis.

Tesco is continuing to improve the quality of our business in Central Europe, further reducing costs and focusing on sustainable, profitable sales. Excluding Poland, like-for-like sales grew for the 19 week period, including an increase of 1.1 per cent for the Christmas period.

"In Central Europe, the reshaping of our business continues and we are confident of the outcome we envisaged. In Asia, negotiations with suppliers are concluding satisfactorily and we can see this in our simpler, clearer, more impactful offer for customers. We have more to do everywhere but remain bang on track to deliver our plans for the year and as we enter our centenary we are in a strong position," added Lewis.

We are confident in the outlook for the full year and are firmly on track to deliver the ambitions that we outlined in October 2016, said the company about the future. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India