Grocery sales to hit £13bn for first time in December

In the four weeks to November 26, 2023, grocery sales grew 6.3% to £11.7bn, according to the latest grocery market share data from Kantar.

Take-home grocery sales are expected to surpass £13bn for the first time this December with Friday, December 22 predicted to be the single busiest day in-store ahead of Christmas.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “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. 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.”

Sainsbury’s delivered its largest market share in over a decade in November reaching 15.6% following a 0.4-point increase. This was driven by the success of its own-label offer, with sales of its popular Taste the Difference range up 23% year on year.

Tesco’s market share increased to 27.5% after sales grew 8.6% during the period, marking the fifth consecutive month of increasing market share for the retailer.

Lidl was the fastest-growing grocer, with sales increasing by 14.2% over the 12 weeks to November 26 to take a record-high share of 7.8%. 

Fellow discounter Aldi’s sales increased by 11.1% and it 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, while the Co-op and Waitrose occupy 5.8% and 4.4% of the market respectively.