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Supermarket sales rallied in the three weeks before Christmas as the mults vied to win over shoppers with heavy discounts and promotions, according to NIQ data released this morning.
Total till roll growth slowed down at the mults in the four weeks to 28 December, with sales up 3.2% compared with a 3.7% rise in the previous month.
However, “intense discounts and increased promotional activity” helped total supermarket till roll hit a record high of £14.6bn in the three weeks leading up to Christmas.
“In the last four weeks we’ve seen the highest levels of promotions in the last three years, with 27% of all fmcg sales being purchased on promotion, with branded promotions at 37% of sales,” said Mike Watkins, NIQ UK head of retailer and business insight.
“This has no doubt helped to boost purchasing over the Christmas period. In particular, this was led by Tesco and Sainsbury’s where promotional spending on fmcg increased to 35% and 34% respectively as these retailers engaged shoppers with big loyalty app savings.”
It follows data released by Kantar yesterday that showed Tesco emerged as a clear festive success story. The UK’s biggest retailer enjoyed growth across its convenience, superstore and online channels, which resulted in a 5% increase in sales over the 12 weeks to 29 December.
Kantar revealed overall take-home sales at the grocers rose by 2.1% over the four weeks to 29 December compared with last year.
A full story on the NIQ data, detailing all the sales figures for the individual retailers, is live on thegrocer.co.uk now. Click here to read more.
Morning update
Supermarket shares were buoyant this morning, with investors awaiting trading updates from Tesco and M&S tomorrow morning and Sainsbury’s on Friday.
Tesco shares nudged up 0.2% to 371.4p when markets opened, with Sainsbury’s up 0.4% to 273.4p and M&S rose 0.7% 383.4p.
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