Brits’ spending on groceries hit a record high during the 2024 Christmas season, according to new research, with discount retail stores Aldi and Lidl achieving their highest share of Christmas sales on record.
Overall U.K. take-home grocery sales rose 2 percent year over year for the four weeks ending 29 December 2024, with Brits individually spending GBP 460 (USD 575, EUR 555) on groceries on average during the period, according to a press release from research firm Kantar.
“It was a solid Christmas at the supermarkets with sales surpassing GBP 13 billion [USD 16 billion, EUR 15.7 billion] during the four weeks of December for the first time ever, showing people were clearly in the mood to celebrate and spend,” Kantar Head of Retail and Consumer Insight Fraser McKevitt said.
The average household made nearly 17 separate shopping trips in December – marking the busiest month for U.K. retailers since the pre-lockdown rush before the spread of Covid-19 in March 2020, according to Kantar.
Discount retailers Lidl and Aldi achieved their highest market shares of Christmas grocery shopping ever. Aldi brought in 10 percent of the total U.K. grocery market, and Lidl secured 7.3 percent of the market. Lidl’s sales spiked 6.6 percent year over year, while Aldi’s sales rose 2.9 percent in December, according to Kantar.
“We dropped hundreds of prices last year as part of our ongoing mission to make outstanding-quality, affordable food accessible to everyone,” Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley said. “Our offering of outstanding-quality British products at unbeatable prices was a winning combination yet again this Christmas as customers wanted to celebrate in style after an uncertain year, but with more challenges ahead, they wanted to do it without breaking the bank.”
Hurley promised to maintain the price gap between Aldi and other supermarkets in the new year.
“As we look ahead to the new year, which for many will mean the prospect of living costs rising again, many families will be nervous about what 2025 holds. Against this background, our mission remains clear: We will not only remain the U.K.’s lowest-priced supermarket, but we will ensure the price gap between ourselves and the traditional full-price supermarkets is as big as ever,” he said.
Aldi is not the only grocer in the U.K. keeping consumers’ wallets in mind, as several other chains have announced they are dropping prices on items heading into the new year.
“We know that as we come out of the festive period, budgets can be a concern for many families. Our Big Jan Price Drop aims to ease that burden and make money stretch further for our customers, by reducing the prices of the products they’re buying week in, week out, continuing to offer uncompromising value to all,” Asda Chief Customer Officer David Hills said.
In addition to Aldi and Lidl, Tesco’s sales jumped 5 percent year over year in December, according to Kantar, which added that it holds a 28.5 percent share of the U.K. grocery market.
Sainsbury’s achieved its highest share since December 2019 at 16 percent, thanks to 3.5 percent sales growth year over year. Morrisons sales also rose by 0.4 percent, and Waitrose sales inclined 2 percent.
Online grocery spending reached a record GBP 1.6 billion (USD 2 billion, EUR 1.9 billion) for the month, according to Kantar.
As a result, Ocado’s sales hiked up 9.6 percent in December.
“More people chose to do some of their Christmas grocery shopping online this year, with 5.6 million households opting for delivery or click-and-collect services on at least one occasion,” McKevitt said.
This matched trends that played out in the U.S. throughout 2024.
“The [surge in online shopping] underscores the importance of strengthening the customer value proposition to align better with the evolving expectations associated with shopping online for groceries,” Brick Meets Click Partner David Bishop said about online grocery shopping in the U.S.
Back in the U.K., British shoppers also spent more on premium own-label products throughout December. While branded grocery sales increased 4.2 percent year over year, sales of premium own-label lines soared 14.6 percent – comprising a record 7 percent of all sales.
