Countdown sales growth slows; e-commerce booms

Countdown's sales growth slowed in the first quarter of Woolworth’s 2021 financial year as easing covid restrictions sapped some of the strong demand.Sales rose to $1.9 billion in the 14 weeks ended Oct. 4, up almost 7 percent from the same period a year earlier. There was a short-lived bump in August as new covid cases were detected and Auckland returned to alert level 3, but that temporary boost quickly returned to trend.The supermarket's e-commerce channel continued its rapid expansion, growing by a third to account for almost...