Grocers record highest sales on record in November

UK grocery sales hit £10.9bn across stores and online in the four weeks to November 29, with the average household spending a record £4,206 on groceries this year, according to Kantar.

Online accounted for 13.7% of all grocery sales last month, the highest proportion on record, as more than 6 million households did grocery shopping online in November.

Take-home sales rose 13.9% during the period spurred by a 33% jump in alcohol sales as the national lockdown forced pubs and restaurants to close.

Shoppers also ramped up preparations for Christmas, with 42% of shoppers determined to make this Christmas the best ever after a tough 2020. Sales of turkeys were up 36% year on year, Christmas light sales up 238% and sales of cream liqueurs doubled year on year.

Ocado reported a 38.3% jump in sales year on year, the sharpest increase among the grocers, followed by Iceland and Lidl, where sales were up 21% and 13.9% respectively.

Morrisons reported the biggest rise in sales among the big four, with sales up 13.7%, while Asda was the weakest, with sales up 7.7%. Aldi reported the weakest sales growth overall of 7%.

Waitrose increased sales by 13.2%, its fastest rate of growth since 2005, with sales of fresh meat and fresh fish rising 25% and 16% respectively.

Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “The three days before non-essential retail and hospitality closed on November 5 were especially busy, with grocery sales that week up by 17%. November as a whole saw shopper frequency hit its highest level since the beginning of the pandemic, suggesting more confidence among people going into stores. Those factors contributed to November being the single largest month ever for the supermarkets, with £10.9bn spent over four weeks.

“December’s numbers are likely to surpass that again and we expect spend to be close to £12bn in the month ahead, around £1.5bn more than last year.” 

Nielsen reported a 10.1% rise in grocery sales in the four weeks to November as shoppers prioritised fewer, bigger shops. Store visits were down 12% year on year but average spend rose 16% per visit.