Another UK supermarkets giant issued a Christmas trading statement as the week drew to a close and just as with Tesco and M&S earlier in the week, the news from Sainsbury’s was generally good.

Sainsbury’s — via its TU brand, it’s one-brand homewares and its Argos operation — is another supermarket with a big stake in the UK clothing and general merchandise market and while not everything at the business was perfect, fashion did fare well in the period.

CEO Simon Roberts said “we have won grocery market share for the fifth consecutive Christmas, with more customers choosing Sainsbury’s for their big shop”. That really matters because getting more people through the door to buy food, means they’re also on the spot to pick up, say, a dress,  pair of trainers, a TV or a set of bedlinen.

Importantly too, the company was upbeat enough to say it “will raise pay for our hourly-paid colleagues by 5% in the year ahead, split into two separate increases to help manage a particularly tough cost inflation environment. We believe in rewarding our colleagues well for delivering leading service and productivity and we will be the best paying UK grocer from March”.

So, what actually happened in Q3 (the 16 weeks to 4 January) and Christmas (the six weeks to the same date)?

In Q3, total sales increased 3.7% and over Christmas they rose 3.8%. Admittedly, during Q3 the Sainsbury’s branded  general merchandise and TU clothing operation saw a 0.1% drop, but in the Christmas period this changed to a 3.4% increase. Meanwhile, Argos was down 1.4% for Q3 as a whole but up 1.1% over the Christmas period. In the case of Argos, Christmas is eight weeks and also covers Black Friday trading. When looked at over the six weeks for which it gave figures for the rest of the business, Argos was up a strong 10.2%.

Referring to that 0.1% dip, the company said general merchandise and clothing sales were “broadly stable” year on year in Q3. 

But clothing sales grew by 2.2%, “outperforming the market and all supermarket competitors, reflecting significant improvements in range and availability”. But this was offset by lower general merchandise sales, “as we accelerate our space reallocation programme and focus on full-price seasonal sales”.

The business does seem to be bouncing back from any weakness earlier in the autumn. But there clearly remain challenges at Argos. Sainsbury’s said that “continued improvements to our digital proposition, delivery offers, product and promotions delivered positive traffic trends and sales growth in the key Black Friday and Christmas weeks. However, this was more than offset by the impact on sales and gross margins of subdued customer spending outside these key periods and a highly promotional environment”.

Yet it added that one in four people in the UK visited the Argos website over Black Friday weekend, a significant increase year on year. Over the quarter, its sales were strongest in technology, while the toy market was weak and customer demand in bigger-ticket categories including furniture and larger consumer electronics remained subdued.