UK supermarket group Morrisons has booked a “disappointing” set of results for the quarter to 30 December, with trading over the key Christmas period lagging the overall weak market.

In its trading update, released this morning (7 January), Morrisons said like-for-like sales in the three months dropped 2.5%. Total sales were down 0.9%.

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Morrisons said the decline was the result of its failure to effectively communicate its point of difference to consumers and added that its promotional activity has also been off the mark. In November, the company first identified these issues and said it was taking action to sharpen its use of marketing and promotions.

However, today the group also spoke of a more fundamental shift in shopping patterns – the “accelerating importance” of “other channels”, such as online and convenience. Evolving shopping patterns are an issue that the entire UK retail sector has had to grapple with, resulting in declining store profitability.

Conlumino consultant Joseph Robinson said the company has been “excruciatingly slow” to respond to these trends.

However, he added: “The grocer is finally making some strides in these areas, with plans to open more convenience stores and a rising likelihood that it will finally launch a full-scale online offer in 2013.”

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Morrisons has increased its investment in convenience operations and plans to have opened 70 convenience stores by the end of the year. The group is yet to launch an online business.

Looking to the full-year, Morrisons said it anticipates trading conditions to remain tough, but added that it expects results to be in-line with expectations.

Despite the downbeat sales update, Morrisons share price edged up 0.18% in early trade today.

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