Supermarkets are set to cash in on last-minute Christmas shopping with sales for the last week before Christmas predicted to top a record £4.2 billion.
According to new data from Nielsen, food sales are set to rise 3.6 per cent on the same week last year helped by Christmas day falling on a Monday, meaning shoppers are likely to delay their big Christmas shop.
“With Christmas Day falling in a Monday, people are likely to delay their big Christmas shop until the final week and we expect nearly all shoppers will visit a grocery retailer at least twice that week,” Nielsen UK’s head of retail insight Mike Watkins said.
“There’ll be a particular surge between Thursday 21st and Saturday 23rd – when over half of shoppers are likely to be shopping for the second time that week – with one in five shoppers indicating Friday will be the preferred day, allowing the weekend to be spent with friends and family.
“The seven days trading available up until the Sunday is good news for the supermarkets which should benefit the big out of town stores in particular as shoppers take advantage of Christmas promotions and stock up on fresh foods.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
