Our business and its markets
J Sainsbury plc consists of Sainsbury’s, a chain of 490 supermarkets and 298 convenience stores, and Sainsbury’s Bank.
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets is the UK’s longest standing major food retailing chain and the Sainsbury’s brand is built upon a heritage of providing customers with healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food. Today the company differentiates itself by offering a broad range of great products at fair prices with particular emphasis on fresh food. Products are improved and developed continually to ensure the company leads in terms of the ingredients used and the integrity of sourcing. A large Sainsbury’s store offers around 30,000 products and many stores also offer complementary non-food products and services. 114 stores provide an internet-based home delivery shopping service. Sainsbury’s Bank is jointly owned by J Sainsbury plc and HBOS plc. With access to over 16 million Sainsbury’s customers each week, operating costs are low, enabling Sainsbury’s Bank to offer excellent value products with extra benefits, all delivered in a simple, accessible way.
The UK grocery retail market
The UK grocery retailing market was valued at £123.5 billion in 2005/061 and is forecast to grow at an average annual increase of 2.8 per cent to £141.5 billion by 20112. Over the past year, Sainsbury’s strengthened its overall market share position to over 14.9 per cent3 although the market can also be defined and market share divided in a number of different ways. Excluding non-food items, Sainsbury’s has the number two position in the market.
Sainsbury’s growth will be affected by general market issues such as the impact of regulatory and planning regimes on store development and economic factors such as the level of household disposable income. However, Sainsbury’s strategy is aligned with factors such as customers’ preferences for the products they buy. Sainsbury’s is well positioned to anticipate and meet the increasing consumer focus on fresh, healthy, quality foods. The development of our complementary non-food offer addresses our customers’ desire to buy a greater range of non-food products along with their weekly grocery shop and the continued growth of our convenience stores also takes account of the faster pace of people’s lifestyles and the trend towards more frequent top-up shopping trips. The Competition Commission (“CC”) is also undertaking an investigation into the supply of groceries by retailers in the UK. The CC has stated its intention to report its findings in the early part of 2008.
Products
Customers