Although down by 3.0% compared with 2020, spending remains higher than it was pre-pandemic and sales were 8.0% stronger than in 2019.

Kantar revealed that grocery price inflation reached 3.5% in December, adding nearly £15 to shoppers’ average monthly grocery bill, the second fastest rise in four years.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “People seized the chance to enjoy Christmas with friends and family after last year’s muted festivities, and grocery sales hit £11.7 billion over the month of December alone. This lofty spend figure is down just 0.2% on record 2020 sales when several areas faced restrictions and the data suggests that while there weren’t formal rules in place across the UK this year, many people celebrated at home again due to Omicron.

“We can really see just how much spending accelerated in December compared with earlier in the year by looking at the average trend during March to November when sales were down by 2.5% against 2020.”

While spending on many traditional Christmas dinner items was broadly similar compared with last year, there was ample evidence of people treating themselves and guests.

“There’s no doubt many of us still love a mince pie, with sales of the sweet treats reaching £62 million in December, a jump of 7% on 2020. A similar amount, £61 million, was spent on Christmas chocolates too, with sales soaring by 21%. It looks like people came prepared for extra indulgent celebrations and indigestion remedy sales also rose by 8%,” Fraser McKevitt said.

Sprout fall

“More bitter was the decline in sprout sales, which dipped by 3%, but the traditional green hasn’t fallen out of favour just yet as almost half of all households in Britain served them up in December.

“We saw new dietary trends coming through in the data and plant-based foods proved particularly popular this year, even before Veganuary gets underway. Chilled vegetarian ranges increased sales by 6% while their frozen equivalents were boosted by 4%.”

Premium own-label sales broke records this Christmas and shoppers spent £627 million on supermarkets’ own upmarket lines over the four weeks to 26 December, an increase of 6.8% versus 2020.

 “The appetite to celebrate and splash out that little bit more this year pushed sales of luxury own-brand products up across the board. Sparkling and still wine sales grew 22% and 18% respectively, while crisps surged by 31%. Tesco’s Finest and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference are easily the largest premium own-label ranges, but we saw the fastest growth from other ranges such as Asda Extra Special and Iceland Luxury.”

Inflation

Alongside Christmas indulgence, rising prices also pushed up shopping budgets.

“Grocery price inflation reached 3.5% in December, adding nearly £15 to shoppers’ average monthly grocery bill. We saw prices rise faster for a short while in Spring 2020 when promotions were cut to maintain product availability, but before that you would have to go back nearly four years to January 2018 to see inflation running higher,” he said.

The busiest shopping day of the year was 23 December

“Food and drink spend peaked two days before Christmas. The real driver of bumper sales on 23 December wasn’t online though, as we saw the largest number of in-store visits since March 2020 this month. Shoppers clearly trusted that supermarket shelves would remain well stocked and they didn’t feel the need to rush out much earlier to get their favourite festive treats,” Fraser McKevitt said.

Despite rising COVID-19 case numbers, online sales fell in December by 3.7% against 2020 and accounted for 12.2% of sales.

Individual retailers found it challenging to secure year-on-year growth over the Christmas period following last year’s highs, but every major grocer increased sales compared with the final 12 weeks of 2019.

Online specialist Ocado was the only retailer to buck the trend over the latest 12 weeks and grow versus last year, increasing its sales by 2.5%. At the same time, Tesco continued to gain market share, up by 0.6% to 27.9%, the highest it’s been since January 2018. Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose also grew their shares by 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.

Second-largest grocer Sainsbury’s now holds 15.7% of the market, with Asda on 14.2% and Morrisons on 10.1%. Independent retailers have a combined share of 1.6%. Meanwhile, 5.8% of the market belongs to the Co-op and 2.4% to Iceland.

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The latest take-home grocery figures from Kantar show sales fell by 0.4% during the 12 weeks to 16 May 2021. This year-on-year decline reflects a tough comparison with exceptionally high sales during the first three months of the pandemic last year. However, sales remain stronger than they were before coronavirus and shoppers spent an additional £3.8 billion at the supermarket in the past three months compared with the same period in 2019.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, comments: “As lockdown eases, people are returning to more normal habits and we can see that reflected in grocery sales. Many of us this time last year were eating all our meals at home and we bought extra food and drink as a result. Now we’re seeing take-home grocery sales dip versus 2020 as people are able to eat in restaurants, pubs and cafés and can pick up food on the go again, grabbing a sandwich, for example, while they’re out and about at the weekend. While not captured in these take-home figures, on-the-go grocery sales look set to be a significant driver of growth for supermarkets over the next few months.

58 million more supermarket visits

“As the vaccine rollout moves full steam ahead, consumers are getting more confident venturing back out to stores. Shoppers made 58 million more visits to the supermarket this period than they did in May 2020. The greatest acceleration has been in London, where trips are up by more than a quarter. And in other changes, there are signs that the big weekly shop, which made a comeback last year while people tried to reduce time spent outside of home, may be on its way out. Basket sizes have fallen for three months in a row and the average price of a trip to the grocery store over the month to 16 May is £22.82, the lowest since March last year.”

The proportion of supermarket sales made online – another hallmark of shopping habits last year – remains much higher than 2019 levels but fell back from 13.9% in April to 13.4% in the latest month. Convenience stores, both independents and smaller formats of the major chains, are seeing some of their market share gains unwind too. Collectively these smaller stores now account for 12.5% of sales, down from 14.9% in May 2020.

Inclement weather

As inclement weather did its best to dampen outdoor dining, grocery spending also reflects a wet start to summer 2021. Fraser McKevitt continues: “During the first national lockdown last year many people found solace in the early summer sunshine, something 2021 has so far failed to deliver. This saw sales of barbeque staples like burgers fall in May by 20% year on year. Chilled desserts, up by 14%, fared better – no doubt buoyed by those hardy people braving the weather to entertain friends and family in the garden.

“Re-entering the social sphere over the past month means that our lives are becoming busier again and convenience is rising back up the agenda. Efforts to make meal times easier are reflected in a rise in sales of chilled ready meals by 20%, cooked poultry by 28% and sandwich fillings by 12%. Ditching the sofa and emerging from our homes also saw people prioritise their personal appearance. As a result, sales of mouthwash grew by 16%, hairstyling products by 26% and shoe care products like polish by 50%.”

Aldi and Lidl both grow market share 

Aldi and Lidl both grew ahead of the market this period and gained market share in the latest 12 weeks with take-home sales up by 5.2% and 4.6% respectively. Sales at the discounters had been impacted by shoppers favouring online and cutting back on the number of stores they visited last year, but the tide has turned this period. Aldi’s share increased by 0.4 percentage points to 8.1% and Lidl’s by 0.3 percentage points to 6.2%.

Ocado is the fastest growing retailer, gaining 0.2 percentage points of share this period. However, its sales substantially slowed year on year to 15.4%. Fraser McKevitt comments: “Tough annualisation because of an exceptional 2020 meant spend at symbols and independent retailers and Co-op was down in comparison with last year, but remained in double digit growth against the more typical sales of 2019. Convenience stores also benefited from the return of on-the-go food and drink sales – representing additional growth that is not captured in these take-home figures. It’s a similar story at Iceland, which saw sales boom in 2020 as shoppers stocked up on frozen food, making growth harder to come by this year.”

ASDA ‘biggest winner’ 

All four of the largest supermarkets gained market share. Asda was the biggest winner, with sales up by 1.9% over the 12 weeks and share increasing to 14.4% from 14.1% last year. Sainsbury’s grew sales by 0.7% while Morrisons was up by 0.3% and Tesco sales remained flat versus last year. All secured an additional 0.1 percentage point of share. Waitrose too won market share, up to 5.1% from 5.0% last year, with sales growing by 2.1%.

Grocery inflation now stands at -1.2%. Fraser McKevitt comments “The good news for households wanting to keep on top of their grocery spending is that like-for-like prices are lower than last year when fewer products were bought on promotion. This is the fastest fall in prices since August 2016, a trend we expect to normalise as the year progresses.”

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