Looking at the sales increase of 3.8% in more detail.
In the year lower prices and promotional activity deflated sales revenue by 4.8%. This includes the effect of the Lower Prices You’ll Love campaign under which we reduced a further 2,000 prices by an average of 14% in the year.
The number of items sold was up 4.6% in the year helped by new space, extended opening hours and the effect of offering better value to customers.
Changes to the mix of products sold added 4.0% to sales revenue with successful new product launches and stronger growth in higher average item value categories such as dispensing and cosmetics.
