Highest Christmas perfornance8 Jan 2025 14:00
UK shoppers splurge on festive food and drink - NIQ
Wed, 08th Jan 2025 11:59Sharecast News
(Sharecast News) - UK consumers splashed out a record £14.6bn on food and drink in the run-up to Christmas, industry research showed on Wednesday.
According to consumer research firm NIQ, overall total till sales growth was 3.2% in the four weeks to 28 December.
That was down on November's growth of 3.7%. However, after a slow start to the month food sales rallied, boosted by discounts and increased promotional activity.
The timing of Christmas Eve further helped, with Monday 23 December the peak shopping day, NIQ noted.
Mike Watkins, UK head of retailer and business insight at NIQ, said: "In the last four weeks we've seen the highest levels of promotions in the last three years, with 27% of all fast-moving consumer goods sales being purchased on promotion.
"This has not doubt helped to boost purchasing over the Christmas period."
Among individual retailers, online only grocer Ocado was the fastest growing retailer over the four weeks, despite the popularity of in-person shopping, with sales soaring 13.9%.