Morrisons reports strongest quarterly performance since 2021

Morrisons has reported its strongest quarterly performance since the start of 2021, following a year of “urgent reinvigoration”.

The supermarket’s Q4 like-for-like sales rose 4.9% during the 13 weeks to 27 October 2024, with full year group like-for-like sales up 4.1%. This represents eight consecutive quarters of positive like-for-like sales.

Full year total revenue rose 8% to £15.3bn, with Q4 revenue rising 4.8% to £3.8bn. Morrisons also continued to grow its convenience store estate, which now stands at over 1,600 stores.

Chief executive Rami Baitiéh attributed the retailer’s improved performance to “sharper prices, more effective promotions and a strong and growing loyalty scheme”, alongside better availability in stores. 

Baitiéh described 2024 as a “year of urgent reinvigoration and positive progress for Morrisons”, emphasising the growth with regards loyalty.

Sales linked to the Morrisons More Card scheme grew to 68% at the year end and stand at 76% today. 

“We have introduced a rolling programme of around 2,500 deeply discounted More Card prices and points are now awarded on every product. In the two-week Christmas period around 3.5 million ‘Morrisons Fivers’ were redeemed by customers,” said Baitiéh.

The retailer launched a rejuvenated version of its loyalty scheme in May 2023, with chief customer and marketing officer Rachel Eyre telling Marketing Week at the time the offering sets Morrisons apart from its rivals. 

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Morrisons extended its price match to Aldi and Lidl over the period. Now covering 500 essential and popular products, including including eggs, coffee and pasta sauce, the scheme was launched in February 2024. 

Speaking last year, Eyre said the price match was an “efficient and effective way to reassure” customers on the competitiveness of the retailer’s prices and is “part of a wider toolkit of many reasons that we know customers choose to shop at Morrisons”.

While Morrisons is maintaining its commitment to price matching, Asda announced yesterday (29 January) it has dropped its Aldi and Lidl price match scheme to focus on expanding its Rollback offerings following a tricky Christmas period.

By contrast, Morrisons’ sales increased by 0.4% to claim an 8.6% market share in the four weeks to 29 December, according to Kantar figures. The supermarket returned with its singing oven gloves festive campaign, which proved effective during Christmas 2023.