Household spending reached new high as shoppers prepared for Christmas
Christmas grocery shopping brought a record high this Christmas, with household spending at £460 on average, according to the latest data.
Overall take-home sales at the grocers rose by 2.1% over the four weeks to 29th December compared with last year, Kantar figures show.
While contrasting reports emerged for high street shopping – Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) revealed footfall in NI decreased by 3.0% (year-on-year) for the three months to December – it was a different story in the grocery sector.
As anticipated, Monday 23rd December was the busiest shopping day of the year, with sales 30% higher than any other day during 2024.
“It was a solid Christmas at the supermarkets with sales surpassing £13 billion during the four weeks of December for the first time ever, showing people were clearly in the mood to celebrate and spend,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
“The average household made nearly 17 separate shopping trips this December, delivering the busiest month for retailers since the pre-lockdown rush in March 2020.”
Despite the festive cheer, grocery price inflation has ticked up to 3.7%, its highest level since March 2024.
Fraser McKevitt added people were willing to splash out that little bit more, with sales growth for branded goods accelerating to 4.2%, while premium own-label lines jumped by 14.6%. The latter now account for a record 7.0% of all sales, as nine in 10 households bought at least one of these products in December.
Unsurprisingly, sparkling wine and champagne were the stars of the festive drinks trolley, achieving sales growth of 4.4% at a total of £187 million across the month; while 11% of the population bought a no or low alcohol drink, up from 10% last year.
Meanwhile, Tesco saw its growth across its convenience, superstore and online channels contributing to a 5.0% increase in sales over the 12 weeks to 29th December, its 0.8 percentage gain was the biggest of any supermarket, taking its hold of the market to 28.5%.
Sainsbury’s achieved its highest share since December 2019 at 16.0%, thanks to sales growth which outpaced the market at 3.5%, while Asda now holds 12.5% of the market.
Discount retailer Lidl achieved their highest ever Christmas shares at 7.3%, securing the fastest footfall growth of any retailer, as spending through its tills increased by 6.6%.
