Wesfarmers’ decision to reinvest cost savings and petrol discounts into reducing grocery prices has paid off in spades, fuelling the strongest sales growth at Coles for 18 months and raising the bar for rival Woolworths.
Same-store sales at Coles rose 4.3 percent in the three months ending September, exceeding market expectations and topping the 4.1 percent growth achieved in the fourth quarter of 2014 as the retailer cut prices by 50 percent on products such as gourmet ice cream and added frozen foods to its Down Down campaign.
Coles has achieved 26 consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales growth, outpacing sales growth at Woolworths for the 25th consecutive quarter. Woolworths’ same-store Australian food and liquor sales, which come out on Monday, are forecast to rise by about 2.8 percent.
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Online )