December to see £13bn in grocery sales for first time, Kantar says

Take-home grocery sales are expected to surpass £13bn for the first time ever this December, according to marketing data and analytics company Kantar. It comes as its latest figures found that sales grew by 6.3% over the four weeks to 26 November 2023 to reach £11.7bn. Kantar said the cost of a traditional Christmas dinner for four this year has increased by 1.3% versus a year ago and now stands at £31.71. This tracks well below the headline grocery price inflation rate, which fell to 9.1% for the four weeks to 26 November 2023. During the period, Sainsbury’s delivered its strongest growth in market share since March 2013 with its share of the market growing by 0.4 percentage points to 15.6%, driven by a 10.2% increase in sales. Tesco also put in a strong performance to increase its market share to 27.5% following a growth in sales of 8.6%, marking the fifth month in a row that Britain’s largest retailer has made gains. Lidl was again the fastest growing grocer, boosting sales by 14.2% over the 12 weeks to 26 November to take a record high share of 7.8%. Aldi increased sales by 11.1% and now holds 9.6% of the market. Sales at Asda and Morrisons were up by 2.6% and 3.7% respectively. They now have 13.4% and 8.7% of the market each. Meanwhile, Co-op’s share stands at 5.8%, while Waitrose accounts for 4.4% of the market. Frozen specialist Iceland saw an increase in sales of 3.0%. Growing ahead of the market, Ocado’s sales jumped by 12.1%, holding its market share steady at 1.7%. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, comments: “The scene is set for record-breaking spend through the supermarket tills this Christmas. The festive period is always a bumper one for the grocers with consumers buying on average 10% more items than in a typical month. Some of the increase, of course, will also be driven by the ongoing price inflation we’ve seen this year. “While the rate at which grocery prices are rising is still well above the norm, the good news for shoppers is that inflation is continuing to come down. It dropped again in November to 9.1%. The retailers are also battling it out to offer value to consumers during this important month for trading and are doing what they can to keep prices low.” He added: “In a sign of just how fierce the contest is between the grocers, the cost of a Christmas dinner for four has risen well below the overall inflation rate this year at 1.3%, as some items on our festive plate have actually fallen in price. Brussels sprouts are now 4.3% cheaper than 12 months ago so there’s no excuse for people not to enjoy them!”