The Warehouse Group says it has made a “positive start” to the financial year as consumers continue to shop for “fair-priced alternatives” during an era of rising living costs.

The group owns and operates The Warehouse ‘red sheds’, Noel Leeming, Torpedo7, Warehouse Stationery, and The Market.

For the three months to October 30, sales increased 21.2 per cent to $764.7 million with foot traffic increasing by 61.4 per cent across all brands.

Group gross profit margin rose 32.3 per cent while MarketClub membership reached 800,000 members. Online sales fell 56.6 per cent to $81.8 million – representing 10.7 per cent of total sales.

The Warehouse division recorded a 39 per cent increase in sales to $414.6 million with grocery sales up 76.2 per cent and homeware sales up by 32.2 per cent.

Warehouse Stationery registered $56.9 million in sales, an increase of 18 per cent while Noel Leeming registered a 3.3 per cent boost in sales to $246.6 million.

Torpedo7’s sales grew to $37.4 million as footwear, snow equipment and snow apparel categories were particularly strong in this quarter compared to the prior year.

The group’s online marketplace TheMarket.com has continued to grow with 47 million online sessions in the last year as the website expanded to stock 5 million active products and over 6700 brands from over 1100 merchants.

Group CEO Nick Grayston said New Zealand shoppers are making “challenging trade-offs” in the way they manage their household budgets with rising living costs.

“We’re seeing a shift in demand from premium categories – such as technology and home office equipment that experienced a lift in recent years – to growth in our great value essentials like groceries and homewares.

“Looking ahead, we are well positioned as we move toward the Christmas and summer peak trading period with good levels of stock across all our brands, despite ongoing supply chain constraints.”