Have no doubt; Coles Group continues to run rings around rival Woolies, no matter what anyone says.

And yet the market only pushed Wesfarmers shares up 1.4%, or 47c, to $33.47 yesterday after the Coles sales announcement, which was the strongest sales growth figures for years.

That put the shares $1.80 under the year high of $35.26 hit after the half year profit and sales update in February.

Woolies' shares edged up 5c to $26.53, more in hope rather than anything else.

There was nothing positive for Woolies from the Coles announcement; its rival is getting much faster growth than it is in a retail environment that is still soft.

And yet there's clear evidence that the sales performance in Coles' supermarkets continues to get better, although the lack of sales growth