TikTok boost helps Sainsbury’s notch up ‘record-breaking’ Christmas PJ sales

Sainsbury’s has said sales of its Christmas pyjamas surged by more than a fifth after becoming a viral sensation on TikTok over the festive season.

Sales jumped by 22% year on year after being sold on TikTok Shop, despite the company reporting a weaker performance in its non-food arm overall.

The retailer, which announced its quarterly results on Friday, said it saw “record-breaking sales” of its PJs range, which has gained increasing popularity on TikTok.

Tu Clothing also put the product out on TikTok Shop, which allows brands to sell products directly through the social media site.

The grocer’s chief executive, Simon Roberts, said the group is now looking to do “more product development in that space”.

Consumers are increasingly likely to use social platforms as discovery tools for products, with 70% of UK consumers having bought something directly or indirectly from social media, according to a recent report by tech firm CI&T.

“The reason TikTok is such a great tool is because it’s democratised, so it shows consumers what it knows they’ll like, just based on their own personalised algorithms, rather than what’s doing well overall on the platform necessarily,” said Melissa Minkow, global director of retail strategy at CI&T.

Overall, Sainsbury’s reported non-food and clothing sales were 1% lower on the release of their quarterly results on Friday, with “higher-ticket items” in particular seeing softer sales.

Argos sales fell by 2%, with Sainsbury’s citing “difficulties with online traffic” as one of the key factors.

Mr Roberts said the Argos business was grappling with increased competition from the likes of Shein and Temu.

As part of its launch on to TikTok shop, in October, Tu Clothing partnered with influencer Rachel Spicer, who has 2.4 million followers on the app, who posted about the pyjamas, gaining 6.6 million views and almost 30,000 likes.

“This is an exciting one, Sainsbury’s iconic Christmas pyjamas are now available on Tiktok shop,” she said in the video.

Ms Minkow said she could “definitely” see more brands mimicking this strategy.

“TikTok is a fantastic discovery tool for consumers to find products that excite them,” she said.