Justin King’s introduction
In tune with our customers
The 2008/09 financial year was another good year for Sainsbury's with continuing growth in sales and tight cost control leading to further improvements in profit. Our business is growing because we have responded quickly and effectively to a rapidly changing environment.
Fixing fundamental parts of our operation through our ‘Making Sainsbury’s Great Again’ recovery programme has placed the business in a strong position. Although consumer confidence in the UK has declined during the year, our performance improved as a result of the strength of the Sainsbury’s brand and actions we have taken to adjust our offer to changing customer trends.
Sainsbury’s is a long-established company and celebrates its 140th anniversary this year. It has a heritage of offering customers great products at fair prices, through a variety of economic trading periods, and we have developed our offer to compete and grow in what has been a very challenging period for the UK retail industry.
This illustrated review gives an overview of our year and why we have been successful.
May 2009
Transcript of video
M1: Welcome to our 2009 online review. If you’d like our full Report and Accounts, you can click on the link below. Last year was a year of some success for Sainsbury’s. Our strong-growing sales, coupled with good cost control, led to excellent profit progress. And of course the economic backdrop could hardly have been more challenging. But at Sainsbury’s we have a proud 140 year heritage of delivering great food at fair prices for our customers, and this has served us well. We’ve really delivered on universal appeal. Our range architecture, with good, better, best product, means that our customers have been able to change their shopping with Sainsbury’s rather than go somewhere else. We’ve talked to customers in language that really reflects the challenges that they’re facing. Our Shop and Save programme, showing that our prices and promotions are sharp. Our Switch and Save, celebrating our leading Own Label product. And Cook and Save, through programmes like Feed your Family for a Fiver, capturing how customers really can save money.
Our business plan has made real progress. Our five areas of focus have all delivered. Food continues to stand out versus the competition, and our non-food business is growing. We’ve been adding space at good pace, and our channels, Online and Convenience, continue to grow. And finally we’ve been developing our store estate. All five of these areas successful in the last year; but perhaps more importantly, a real springboard for future growth. I hope you enjoy the site, and remember of course, if you want the full Report and Accounts, click on the link below.
