Total till sales growth slowed at UK supermarkets (+3.2%) in the four weeks ending 28 December, down from +3.7% in the previous month, according to new data released today by analysts NIQ.
After a slow start to December, food sales rallied in the final three weeks leading up to Christmas, with sales hitting £14.6bn, helped by intense discounts and increased promotional activity.
The data reveals over the last four weeks, store visits were up 8%, helping in-store sales to increase by 3.6% on last year. This came at the expense of online shopping, where sales fell -1.7%, with online share falling to 11.9% from 12.5% a year ago. The timing of Christmas Eve will have given a boost to stores with Monday 23 December the peak shopping day.
Despite the decrease in online sales, Ocadowas the fastest-growing retailer over the last four weeks, while the discounters were the fastest-growing channel (+5.5%). In contrast, trading over the last four weeks was more challenging for the convenience channel (+2.4%), it says.
NIQ data also shows that in the last four weeks, shoppers put fewer items in their baskets, with an average basket value of £21.95, down (-4.9%) compared to last year. This suggests that shoppers are still bearing the brunt of the high cost of living. This is despite dissipating food inflation at 1.8% compared to 7.8% a year ago.
Speaking on the figures, Mike Watkins, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said: “In the last four weeks we’ve seen the highest levels of promotions in the last three years, with 27% of all FMCG sales being purchased on promotion, with branded promotions at 37% of sales.
“Overall, it was a good Christmas for most food retailers with sales growth in line with the expectations that had been set in the last three months. The topline was helped by the return of low inflation but also by shoppers being inclined to buy more in the final week leading up to Christmas Eve. However, shoppers still had to spend more money this year on household bills before buying Christmas indulgences and this may have taken the edge off the growth in some other categories such as alcohol and also household.”
“Looking ahead to 2025, we expect shoppers to keep managing their budgets by shopping smart and shopping around for wherever the savings are the most attractive. This means that shopping ‘little and often’ will continue with omnichannel shopping becoming an even bigger consumer trend across the industry.”
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