Coles supermarket sales surge 13.1 per cent in six weeks to March 29 amid coronavirus panic buying

The winner of the panic buying crisis: Coles’ sales surge by 13% to $8.2BILLION – and booze is flying off the shelves at Liquorland too

The panic buying of toilet paper and pasta has caused an unprecedented double-digit surge in Coles retail sales in just six weeks.

The supermarket giant’s grocery sales soared 13.8 per cent between January 6 and March 29, when compared with the same period in 2019, as coronavirus case numbers peaked.

Coles sales in supermarkets alone added up to $8.2billion during the third quarter – more than the combined takings from its grocery, liquor and service station Express outlets during the same period last year.

Coles chief executive Steven Cain said the quarterly surge was the highest its history as panic buying from late February ‘resulted in extraordinary March sales’.   

The panic buying of toilet paper and pasta has caused a double-digit surge in Coles retail sales in just six weeks. Pictured is a shuffle over toilet paper at a Coles outlet in Melbourne 

‘My main objective is to get through without saying “unprecedented”,’ he told investors in a conference on Wednesday morning.

‘Trading was strong through COVID-19.’ 

Alcohol was also in demand, with Liquorland sales climbing by 6.1 per cent to $740million, with bottle shops allowed to continue operating during the coronavirus shutdowns of non-essential businesses.

Coles Express, which also sells Shell-branded petrol, saw a five per cent increase in sales to $256million.

The third quarter sales of Coles’s supermarket, liquor and service station businesses climbed by 12.9 per cent to $9.226billion, up from $8.173billion 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk