Discounters Aldi and Lidl win Christmas as over half of UK visit their shops
German discounters were the clear winners in the battle for Christmas sales, after more than half of all UK households shopped at their stores.
While families typically treat themselves at Christmas and head to the big four, discounters have grabbed market share with clever ad campaigns and cheap offers on premium items such as champagne.
According to the latest data by Kantar Worldpanel, sales at Aldi and Lidl grew by 22.6 per cent and 15.1 per cent in the 12 weeks to 4 January to finish the year with market shares of 4.8 and 3.5 per cent respectively.
Shore Capital warned it may soon be the end of a “free lunch” for discounters as their sales growth slows and supermarkets fight back on price. Yet all four major retailers saw a sales and market share slip. Sainsbury’s fared best with a 0.7 per cent drop in sales – overtaking Asda as the second biggest grocer.
Tesco’s sales fell 1.2 per cent on last year although this was its best performance since March. Sales at Asda and Morrisons fell 1.6 per cent.