Tesco and Sainsbury’s have emerged victorious in the battle for festive supermarket sales, witnessing increases of 5% and 3.5%, respectively, as UK consumers forked out a whopping £13bn on food shopping in the run-up to Christmas 2024.
While the marketing and advertising industry obsessed over which TV ad was the most effective, it seems UK shoppers had already made up their minds, with Tesco’s gingerbread fest and Sainsbury’s The BFG seeing off Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot, John Lewis’ sentimental gift search and M&S’ Dawn French fairy to secure top spot in terms of sales
According to Kantar figures, Tesco’s hold on the market rose 0.8 percentage points to 28.5% – the biggest of any supermarket – due to growth across its convenience, superstore and online channels.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s grabbed its highest share since December 2019 at 16%, as sales outpaced rivals.
The UK’s third biggest supermarket, Asda, was the only major supermarket to witness a fall in sales in the 12 weeks to December 29, dropping 5.8%.
Discount chains Lidl and Aldi did secure their highest ever Christmas shares at 7.3% and 10% as sales rose 6.6% and 2.9%, respectively, but failed to trump the major supermarkets.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “It was a solid Christmas at the supermarkets with sales surpassing £13bn during the four weeks of December for the first time ever, showing people were clearly in the mood to celebrate and spend.”
“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.
“Online spending for the month reached a record £1.6bn. This saw Ocado boost its sales by 9.6% over the 12 weeks, taking its overall share to 1.8%.”
According to separate research, PwC predicted that the average Christmas spend per consumer across the board would rise from £416 to £433. These figures were forecast to surpass the levels seen over the previous two years and were comparable with the first post-pandemic festive season in 2021, when total spending hit £21.6bn, with an average of £426 per person.
It was predicted that younger consumers would lead the charge, with 29% of 18-to 24-year-olds planning to splash out more than the previous year, followed closely by 25% of those aged 35-44. However, it was the 45-54 age group that was forecast to take the top spot as the biggest spenders, with an estimated average of £463 per person.
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