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...
