- Shoppers bought the equivalent of 314 million pints of lager (178.7 million litres) over the past four weeks, with lager sales up 12.9% year-on-year as World Cup celebrations and warmer weather boosted at-home occasions.
- Rapid delivery reached its highest share of online FMCG sales this year (14%) on the day of England’s World Cup quarter-final, as fans turned to quick grocery services for matchday essentials.
- Soft drinks outpaced alcohol growth, with value sales rising 10.6% compared with 5.0% for alcohol, while no/low alcohol sales surged 17.9% as families embraced summer social occasions.
Summer celebrations and England's FIFA World Cup run delivered another seasonal boost with shoppers filling baskets with snacks, soft drinks, RTDs, lager and barbecue favourites, shows the latest data released today (July 21) by NielsenIQ (NIQ).
The strongest trading week came in the week ending 27th June, when shoppers spent almost £4.6 billion, driving sales growth of +7.6% compared to the same time last year. Industry unit growth also increased (+1.1%), marking the strongest volume performance in the last 12 months outside Easter and Christmas as shoppers bought more.
While like-for-like heatwave conditions in 2025 limited some additional weather-related sales this year, England’s progress through the FIFA World Cup provided a significant boost to spending on food and drink for at-home social occasions.
This is reflected in the category performance, as impulse (snacks, soft drinks, confectionery) was the fastest growing supercategory (+7.4%) closely followed by frozen (+7% ) and beer, wine and spirits (+5%) reflecting increased spending on entertaining occasions.
Lager was a standout performer, with shoppers buying 178.7m litres over the last four weeks - equivalent to 314m pints of lager - and up 12.9% on the same period last year. However, the biggest winner in the alcohol category was pre-mixed alcohol drinks (+31.1% in value and +22.6% in volume) highlighting the continued importance of social occasions during the summer.
Meanwhile, energy drinks (+11.8% in value) and ready-to-drink coffee (+10.2%) also enjoyed double-digit value growth. Soft drinks outpaced alcohol overall, growing 10.6% in value compared with 5.0% for total alcohol, although proving popular was the no/low-alcohol category, where sales surged 17.9% in value and 20.8% in volume during the tournament period, with volume growth running at more than twice the annual rate.
Warm weather also fuelled demand for picnic and barbeque favourites, as fresh dips (14.6%) had a boost in value sales, while salads (+8.4%), fresh savoury snacks (+8.2%), sushi (+6.2%) and fresh berries (+6.3%) all recorded healthy growth.
Barbecue staples also benefited, with prepared fresh poultry (+8.7%) and prepared fresh meat products (+5.5%) also growing in value sales, reflecting consumers making the most of outdoor dining opportunities.
Supported by both the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon, online sales continued to outperform every other grocery channel, with value sales increasing +9.0% and unit sales up +4.3%. These celebrations also drove a significant boost in rapid delivery, with fans turning to quick grocery services for matchday essentials. As a result, rapid delivery reached its highest share of online FMCG sales this year at 14% on the day of England’s quarter-final match (11th July).
The NIQ data shows that total till sales at UK supermarkets rose (+4.4%) in the four weeks ending 11th July 2026, broadly in line with the previous period (+4.6%). Across all retail outlets, growth increased by +3.8%, but was moderated by a slower performance in the convenience channel (+2.5%).
Overall online growth was also driven in part by Amazon’s extended four-day Prime Day event (23rd-26th June) which delivered its biggest sales event of 2026 to date, generating particularly strong FMCG demand across personal care and beverages.
Despite this increase in sales during this period, shopper sentiment remains impacted by concerns around finances, as 66% (+7% points on December ‘25) still describe themselves as being either severely or moderately impacted by the cost of living. 2
With that in mind, promotional activity remained a key driver of growth, with 25% of FMCG sales purchased on promotion, compared with 23.5% a year ago, as retailers invested in seasonal and World Cup-related offers to encourage spending.
Over the latest 12 weeks, Ocado (+17.3%) remained the fastest-growing retailer, closely followed by M&S (+16.7%), as both continued to outperform the wider market.
Lidl (+9.1%) also continued to gain market share through new store openings and attracting additional shoppers, while Co-op (+8.5%) benefited from increased local shopping linked to both the warm weather and World Cup occasions. Among the other supermarkets, Sainsbury’s (+4.1%) grew ahead of Morrisons (+3.6%), closely followed by Tesco (+2.9%).
Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, said: “The last four weeks have been a strong trading period for food retailers and the incremental purchasing has given a welcome boost to volume sales. It’s unusual to have like-for-like heatwaves and this means supermarkets will have missed out on some incremental sales, with most of the growth due to the FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, unit growth of +1.1% across the industry was the best in 12 months as shoppers enjoyed all that the season has to offer with BBQs, picnics and social events.”
Watkins continued: “The good news is that the hot weather is expected to continue until at least the end of July. With the World Cup now over retailers will look to some inspiring media campaigns supported by some new promotions, to encourage shoppers to keep spending with the summer holiday season underway. This will be important for sustaining growth ahead of shoppers reverting to their usual shopping patterns in September.”
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