Supermarkets are set for a £12billion Christmas shopping bonanza as families stuck at home splash out record sums on food and drink.
The industry is heading for its best ever month in December as families spend £16million per hour, says research group Kantar.
Consumers have diverted spending from struggling restaurants to Christmas. Sales figures for December will be £1.5billion higher than the same month last year and £1.1billion higher than November, which was an all-time record.
Festive splurge: Sales figures for December will be £1.5bn higher than the same month last year and £1.1bn higher than November, which was an all-time record
Christmas lights sales are 238 per cent higher, turkey sales are up 36 per cent and families spent 33 per cent more on alcohol in supermarkets.
The average UK household has already spent a record £4,206 on groceries this year. The second lockdown pushed their sales even higher with Kantar reporting overall growth of 13.9 per cent in the four weeks to November 29.
In a sign of the times, more than 6m households shopped for food online in November, the most ever. A record 13.7 per cent of all grocery sales are now digital.
Industry leaders believe the trend will outlast the pandemic and have rushed to snap up market share – Ocado sales rose 38.3 er cent in the 12 weeks to November 29. Waitrose sales rose 13.2 per cent and Iceland sales jumped 21 per cent,
Morrisons remained the fastest growing of the Big Four, with sales rising 13.7 per cent, compared to 10.8 per cent at Sainsbury’s, 10.4 per cent at Tesco and 7.7 per cent at Asda.
Aldi’s 7 per cent growth was outstripped by a 13.9 per cent sales rise at Lidl, which gave it a record 6.2 per cent market share.
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