Woolworths’ sales have increased during the first quarter of the 2021 financial year.

The supermarket giant reported a 12.3% rise in group sales – compared to the same period last year – to $17.9 billion. Its ecommerce sales also shot up during the quarter, increasing 86.7% to $1.5 billion.

Food sales rose 12.9% to $12 billion, driven by shifting customer behaviour, demand for ecommerce services like online shopping and the popularity of Ooshies.

“Sales continued to benefit from COVID-driven higher in-home consumption as we well as the success of Disney+ Ooshies,” Woolies said in its report. “Sales growth in Victoria was approximately 20% in the quarter due to more stringent restrictions in place.”

Looking at how customers shopped, Woolworths found that freestanding and neighbourhood shops continued to “outperform”, while city locations and major shopping malls were affected by customers opting to shop locally.

While store transactions dropped 9.3% as customers shopped less often, customers instead did more shopping. Woolworths highlighted that customers purchased “larger baskets” and jumped onto the ecommerce trend.

Sales across Metro food stores dropped 5.1% to $235 million amid a decline in foot traffic across CBD areas and transport hubs, especially in Victoria. Woolworths has also been making more of its Metro stores cashless as customers opt to pay by card.

Online, average weekly traffic to Woolworths’ websites and apps increased 75.5% from the same period last year to 11.4 million visits. And ecommerce sales skyrocketed this quarter, up 100% from the corresponding period last year.

“By state, Victorian growth was strongest with COVID restrictions resulting in growth of over 180% for the quarter,” the report said. “Sales in NSW and ACT were also strong with growth slightly lower in SA, WA and QLD.”

Sales were also up across some of Woolworths’ other subsidiaries. At Big W, sales rose 20.4% to 1,115 million, particularly in the leisure and toys categories, while Endeavour Drinks was up 21.4% to 2,645 million.

Endeavour Drinks’ sales were boosted by in-home consumption, namely during Father’s Day. At Dan Murphy’s, spirits were the fastest growing category, while at BWS, gin served as the most popular.

Sales were down across Woolworths’ hotel business, which dropped 33.2% to $313 million. They were impacted by venue closures in Victoria (which will open on November 9) and restrictions across other states.

Now the company is readying itself for Christmas as the date looms closer.

“Christmas is only 50 days away and it will be very different to previous years, however, we have worked hard as a team to ensure that all Woolworths Group businesses provide our customers with the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Christmas in an enjoyable, affordable and COVIDSafe way,” Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said in a statement.

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