Supermarkets saw their highest level of transactions in December since 2019, according to new Kantar data.
The figures show Britons made 488 million trips to the supermarkets over the four weeks to 24 December – 12 million more than last year and the largest number at Christmas since pre-pandemic times.
A record £13.7bn passed through the tills, with the average household spending an all-time high of £477 across the month, an increase of £28 on 2022. Total take-home grocery sales grew in value by 7.0%, while the number of items bought rose by 2%.
Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight, Worldpanel Division, UK, said: “As we expected, this Christmas was a whopper. Friday 22 December turned out to be the most popular shopping day, when just over 25 million trips were made and consumers spent £803m in physical stores – that’s 85% more than the average Friday in 2023. Online’s share of the market held steady at 11.6%, as nearly one in five households got a delivery in for the big day.”
The data reveals that nearly one third of all spend in the four weeks to Christmas Eve was made on items with some kind of offer, the highest level since December 2020, and £823m more than last year.
In addition, the figures show that supermarkets saw strong performances for their own-label lines, with sales of premium ranges like Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference and Tesco Finest surging by 11.9% compared with last year to hit £790m – accounting for 5.7% of all grocery sales. Branded sales rose by 6.0% during the same period.
McKevitt added: “Consumers’ appetite for the traditional Christmas dinner was particularly strong in 2023, with volumes of parsnips, sprouts and potatoes up 12%, 9% and 8% respectively, and chilled gravy up by 11%. Festive meats including pigs in blankets, sausages, hams and, of course, turkeys were also up by 6% collectively.
“We’re creatures of habit when it comes to Christmas and our data shows that the classic festive plate remains much the same. However, mince pies and Christmas puddings did buck the trend. They were less popular this year, with volumes falling by 4% and 7% respectively, but that isn’t to say we’ve lost our sweet tooth. Fresh cream was up by 5% across the month, so dessert was still very much on the menu.“
