Total sales at Waitrose slipped 2.1% year-on-year over the week to 18 May, with the chain blaming tough comparatives with the same period last year which benefited from the royal wedding and good weather.
The chain highlighted that cooler weather saw shoppers opt for warming comfort food and drink, with sales of canned soup, rotisserie chickens, vegetables and tea all rising.
Overall, sales in the ambient category were down 1.8%, whilst sales in Chilled, Fruit, Veg & Hort., Bakery, Meat, Fish, Frozen and Dairy slipped 2%. Sales in the Home & General Merchandise category fell 6.5%.
Meanwhile, after returning to growth the previous week, sister chain John Lewis delivered another rise in sales, up 1.7%.
Fashion sales were up 5.8%, boosted by 9.5% growth in beauty sales due to competitor price matching. However, Home sales slipped 0.3%, while its electrical and home technology department saw sales fall 2.2%.
