It used to be said that Sainsbury’s made no profit until Christmas (rather like the working for the taxman until July) whether that is true (JS, not the taxman) is another matter.
We also used to get told that we made no profit from Sheffield upwards at Sainsbury’s; which was a useful motivational tool in the middle of December after a gruelling night shift.
Whatever the missive - the next eight weeks really do decide the year. It’s where the customers, ever fearful, throw caution to the wind and retailers anxiously scan the daily (hourly) sales figures to see what customers are buying. It’s coming but it’ll be late etc.
Black Friday, Christmas, then the January sales: most of the annual result is won or lost on the shop floor between now and 9 January. Who is doing what on promotions, what are the Turkey prices? Who is back in at per kg versus individual prices?
The UK is seen as one of the best grocery markets in the world for competitiveness and quality. A small island, but the place to learn from the best for the biggest event of the year. Whilst I continually moan about standards, we’re still an ultra competitive state in the land of food retail.
With over 1m images and almost 200,000 of Christmas alone; there is no one better placed to show you who wins, and who won, and what good looks like.
So I’ve put together a simple Golden Quarter Pack, for suppliers, retailers, category teams, analysts and investors, plus anyone else.
The weekly Market Spotlight: every major UK grocer, photo-led, through to 9 January. Over 60 pages per week of execution and trends.
A Black Friday read in early December: who went big, who held back, and what it means for Christmas.
Christmas headlines from the market in mid December: looking at current and former activity, and this year against last using our AI tooling to see who is discounting earlier, and what that means for the bigger picture.
The Christmas Post Mortem in January: what worked, what didn’t and who won, based on the retailers’ trading results but also the delivery in store.
A one-hour recorded walkthrough of the key themes, to watch and share in your own time.
£1,500 + VAT, paid once by card.
No contract, no renewal. Up to five people in your business get every report.
Want to see a sample first?
Reply to this email and I’ll send you Week 36 and the one-pager too.
Sign up here: Get your Christmas sorted.
Available until 30 November. Any questions, just reply.
If there’s better value in the market, I am yet to see it.