Sainsbury’s has been named as the big winner over Christmas as grocery sales surpassed the £13bn mark in December for the first time.
The supermarket chain saw its sales jump 9.3% in the four weeks to 24 December, achieving its highest market share since December 2020 at 15.8%, according to analysts at Kantar.
Consumers spent £13.7bn in the run-up to Christmas, the research noted, with average household spending up 6% to £477 across the month.
It said that almost a third of all spending over the period was made on items with some kind of promotional offer, up by more than £820m on the same period in 2022.
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Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “As we expected, this Christmas was a whopper.
“Friday 22 December turned out to be the most popular shopping day, when just over 25 million trips were made and consumers spent £803m in physical stores – that’s 85% more than the average Friday in 2023.”
Sales volumes edged up 2% during the month as prices climbed by 6.7% – it’s lowest level since 2022.
McKevitt said: “The rate of inflation is coming down at the fastest pace we have ever recorded, but consumers are still facing pretty hefty pressures on their budgets.
“Retailers were clearly working hard during the festive period to offer best value and win over shoppers, and promotions were central to their strategy.”
The traditional retailers – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose – accounted for a combined market share of 70% during the 12 weeks to 24 December, while the discounters continued to increase their market share to record highs.
McKevitt added: “The traditional retailers always tend to do well in the run up to Christmas and this year was no exception.
“Supermarkets saw especially strong performances for their own-label lines, with sales of premium ranges like Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference and Tesco Finest surging by 11.9% compared with last year to hit £790 million – accounting for 5.7% of all grocery sales.”
Lidl revealed on Tuesday its sales over the Christmas period were up 12% year-on-year thanks to an increased demand of its own-brand premium Deluxe line.
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