Lidl has outpaced rivals in the run up to Christmas, reporting a double-digit sales increase as customers shunned more expensive retailers.
Overall sales for the four weeks to 29 December rose 11% year-on-year, higher than any other supermarket over the festive period, with around £110m of spend switched to Lidl from all other grocers - including main rival Aldi.
The discounter experienced increased customer footfall, with 23 December being its busiest trading day ever as households stocked up for Christmas Eve.
Lidl said it experienced strong sales in its beer, wines and spirits range, with record growth of 13%. Wine was the “real winner” from the range, Lidl added, with sales jumping 20% year-on-year.
Cheese sales also performed strongly, up 55% year-on-year, with Lidl customers consuming over 1,000 tonnes from Lidl’s festive range.
The discounter also “bucked the trend” for general merchandise sales, increasing 9%.
Christian Härtnagel, Lidl GB CEO, said: “This was our 25th Christmas since first opening our doors in Britain, and what a Christmas it’s been, with more customers shopping at Lidl than ever before.
“We continued to open our doors to more communities across the country, which has no doubt contributed to our success. However, the number of customers switching to us in the lead up to Christmas shows the continued appeal of the Lidl offer.”
Over the Christmas period the retailer also continued to invest in its store portfolio, as part of its £1.45bn expansion investment. It now expects to reach 1,000 shops across the UK by the end of 2023.
“After more than doubling our market share over the past ten years, we’re excited to be entering a new decade and all the potential it brings for us. Our promise to customers will always be to provide the best quality at the lowest prices and we look forward to delivering this to even more households across the country in 2020 and beyond,” Härtnagel added.
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