Xmas a whopper for traditional UK retailers

Source: Retail Gazette Retail Gazette Traditional UK retailers always tend to do well in the run-up to Christmas and this year was no exception

“The traditional retailers always tend to do well in the run-up to Christmas and this year was no exception,” says Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt.

“Supermarkets saw especially strong performances for their own-label lines, with sales of premium ranges like Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference and Tesco Finest surging by 11.9% compared with last year to hit £790m – accounting for 5.7% of all grocery sales,” expands McKevitt.

Consumers spent £13.7bn in the run-up to Christmas, the research noted, with the average household spending up 6% to £477 across the month.
It said that almost a third of all spending over the period was made on items with some kind of promotional offer, up by more than £820m on the same period in 2022.

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Xmas a whopper

McKevitt adds they had expected this Christmas to be a “whopper”.

McKevitt says Friday 22 December was the most popular shopping day. “Just over 25 million trips were made and consumers spent £803m in physical stores – that’s 85% more than the average Friday in 2023.”

Sales volumes edged up 2% during the month as prices climbed by 6.7% – its lowest level since 2022.

“The rate of inflation is coming down at the fastest pace we have ever recorded, but consumers are still facing pretty hefty pressures on their budgets.

“Retailers were clearly working hard during the festive period to offer best value and win over shoppers, and promotions were central to their strategy,” adds McKevitt.

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The big winner

With December grocery sales that – for the first time – surpassed £13bn, Sainsbury’s has been named as the big winner over Christmas.

This is according to an article published in the The Retail Gazette

The article states that the supermarket chain saw its sales jump 9.3% in the four weeks to 24 December, achieving its highest market share since December 2020 at 15.8%, according to analysts at Kantar.

M&S one of top stock picks for 2024

The Retail Gazette, in a separate article, reported that M&S (Marks & Spencer) had been named as one of BNP Paribas analysts top stock picks for 2024, adding that the business was “a likely Christmas winner”.

M&S shares shot to a five-year high on the investors' prediction that the retailer will be crowned one of the best-performing over the holiday period.

The food and clothing retailer was among the top risers on the FTSE 100 as shares jumped as much as 2.5%, raising the value of the group by more than £70m.

Both articles first appeared in Retail Gazette written by Aoife Morgan.