The average UK household spent a record £460 on groceries this Christmas, as the latest market share data from Kantar revealed overall take-home sales at the grocers rose by 2.1% over the four weeks to 29 December compared with last year.
There was solid evidence shoppers were trading up, with sales of branded goods up 4.2% while premium own-label lines jumped by 14.6%. Kantar said premium own label now accounts for a record 7.0% of all sales, as nine in 10 households bought at least one of these products in December. There was also a particularly strong showing for sparking wine and champagne, with sales up 4.4% and reaching a total of £187m in December.
“It was a solid Christmas at the supermarkets with sales surpassing £13bn during the four weeks of December for the first time ever, showing people were clearly in the mood to celebrate and spend,” said Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt. “However, despite the festive cheer, grocery price inflation has ticked up to 3.7%, its highest level since March 2024.
“In contrast to reports of disappointing footfall across the rest of the high street, it was a very different story in the world of grocery. The average household made nearly 17 separate shopping trips this December, delivering the busiest month for the retailers since the pre-lockdown rush in March 2020. As anticipated, Monday 23 December was the most popular shopping day of the year, with sales a whopping 30% higher than any other day during 2024.
“We’ve all got our own festive favourites, but it seems that age differences come into play too. Under-45s are far more likely to pick up a sausage roll, and they also go for a slightly more Mediterranean spin, being the most likely to reach for panettone as well as antipasti and party food as part of their Christmas shopping. Meanwhile, over-45s account for the majority of Christmas cake and fortified wine sales. The seasonal biscuit, however, knows no bounds, appealing across the generations.”
The UK’s biggest grocer Tesco emerged as a clear festive success story, with Kantar saying it enjoyed growth across its convenience, superstore and online channels, which resulted in a 5.0% increase in sales over the 12 weeks to 29 December. Its 0.8 percentage point share gain was the biggest of any supermarket, taking its grip of the market to 28.5%.
Sainsbury’s 16% share is its highest in five years as its sales jumped 3.5%. Morrisons sales rose by 0.4% with its share down to 8.6% from 8.8%. Asda’s share fell a full percentage point to 12.5% as its sales plummeted 5.8%.
The discounters Lidl and Aldi achieved their highest-ever Christmas shares at 7.3% and 10.0% respectively. Lidl enjoyed a 6.6% increase in sales, while Aldi’s sales climbed 2.9% year on year.
Ocado enjoyed the biggest sales boost of any retailer, up 9.6% on Christmas 2023.
“More people chose to do some of their Christmas grocery shopping online this year, with 5.6 million households opting for delivery or click & collect services on at least one occasion. Online spending for the month reached a record £1.6bn. This saw Ocado boost its sales by 9.6% over the 12 weeks, taking its overall share to 1.8%,” explained McKevitt.
Kantar also said food and drink spending at M&S increased by 8.7%, driven by strong performance in its core fresh and chilled range (9% higher) and ambient lines (11% greater) across the 12 weeks, while Waitrose’s market share remained at 4.6% with spending increasing by 2.1%. Iceland’s sales rose by 1.0%. Convenience retailer Co-op’s portion of the market is now 5.3%, down from 5.4% a year ago with sales down 0.2%.
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