UK: Tesco sales slip slightly in Q3 as retailer posts positive Christmas | Progresiv
UK supermarket giant Tesco has seen its like-for-like sales slip by 0.5% in Q3, according to a trading statement published. The retailer’s core UK market saw a 1.5% decline, according to the statement, which it said ‘reflects [the] impact of lapping unsustainable couponing in prior year’. International like-for-like sales were up 2.9%. 
The results also featured details of Tesco’s Christmas sales performance, which saw a rise in Group sales of 2.1% and UK like-for-like sales growth of 1.3%.
“Our Christmas performance was strong, benefiting from lower prices on an outstanding range of products,” said chief executive Dave Lewis. “Our customer service improved materially and our colleagues went the extra mile. Put simply, we put customers at the heart of everything we did and they responded by buying more of what they needed at Tesco."
On its international performance, Lewis added, “International sales have also continued to strengthen, driven once again by improvements across the offer. We continued our strong positive sales momentum in both Europe and Asia, with our Thai business reaching its highest ever market share.” (www.esmmagazine.com)
