In first few weeks of FY20.

Total sales for Big W were up 2.6% to $926 million with comparable sales experiencing positive comparable sales growth for the sixth consecutive quarter, increasing 4.4%, for the 14 weeks to 6 October 2019.

Online sales growth remained strong but moderated with an increase of 21.2% compared to 159% for the previous corresponding period.

All customer ‘universes’ (categories), except for leisure, delivered comparable sales growth with improved trading in apparel continuing due to good momentum across seasonal lines. Leisure sales were impacted by a slowdown in gaming, audio-visual and DVDs.

During the quarter, Big W launched its new brand platform – Every day’s a big day – and continued its Free Books for Kids initiative. The store network remained unchanged in the quarter at 183.

Woolworths CEO, Brad Banducci said it was a pleasing start to FY20 with strong sales momentum across the group. However, the group expects sales growth to moderate over the remainder of the financial year.