Shoppers spent a total of £7.1 billion at UK supermarkets in the two weeks to Christmas. This is up from £6.7bn in 2020 and ahead of the £6.8bn forecasted by NielsenIQ.
Total till grocery sales across the four weeks to 1 January 2022 increased by 1 per cent, which the analyst firm describes as an “impressive” growth rate given it is being compared to the 8 per cent boost seen last January as people prepared for another lockdown.
Online shopping visits dropped by 1.7 per cent over the four-week period, while in-store visits increased by 6.3 per cent. Given online slots for delivery had to be booked well in advance of Christmas many shoppers opted to do top-up shops for last minute essentials in-store.
As a result, the data shows there were 27 million more in-store visits during the run up to Christmas this year than in 2020.
It means the online share of grocery sales fell to 11.3 per cent compared to 12.1 per cent in December last year. It is also the lowest online share recorded since the beginning of the pandemic when 11.6 per cent was recorded in April 2020.
M&S was the fastest growing food retailer in the 12 weeks to Christmas (up 9.4 per cent), while both Aldi (up 8.5 per cent) and Lidl (up 4.8 per cent) both benefitted from new store openings.
Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, says, “All retailers had more shoppers than this time last year and most had more visits, even if spend per visit was a little lower at just over £21. British consumers are continuing to adopt an omnichannel approach and whilst online allows them to plan ahead, shoppers are increasingly heading in-store for a regular weekly shop as well as for last-minute purchases and we can expect this behaviour to continue.”
To use this website you must be aged 18 years or over. Please verify your age before entering the site.
