supermarket swoop
retailers net €1billion in record month as families splash out on festive groceries
A CHRISTMAS cash splurge that saw consumers spend an average of €700 drove supermarket sales to a record €1billion last month.
Big-spending families forked out an extra €151 on groceries over the holiday period.
The retail rush reached new highs – with almost €1billion spent on food and drink in the final weeks of 2018.
And Dunnes Stores bosses are celebrating after capturing 23% of festive grocery sales.
It was a sweet deal for all supermarkets with indulgent shoppers spending €2million on Christmas puddings alone.
Sales of other seasonal treats, such as mince pies and tins of biscuits, also increased by around 11%.
Douglas Faughnan, consumer expert with Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Sales reached €995million in the month of December – the highest monthly total recorded in the Irish grocery market.
“This was driven by Irish shoppers spending an average of €694 on groceries in December.” Christmas Day fell on Tuesday which meant tills rang through the weekend.
Mr Faughnan said: “Shoppers could take advantage of a full weekend of trading before the big day. Saturday, December 22, proved the most popular day for Christmas grocery shopping.
“The Irish public spent an additional €25million compared with the previous Saturday, making it the biggest trading day of the year with €75million going through tills.”
Families ditched the budget and put pricey treats at the top of their shopping lists.
Mr Faughnan added: “Branded and premium private label ranges grew by 3.8% and 11.2% respectively as shoppers spoiled themselves and their families.”
In the race to the top, Dunnes Stores has taken the lead over its competitors. Mr Faughnan said: “It was the only one of the three biggest retailers to see a rise in shopper numbers, with almost 31,000 extra households visiting its stores compared to last year.”
Tesco and Supervalu are hot on its heels with market shares of 22.3% and 21.8% respectively.
Branded goods hooked in Tesco’s customers.
Meanwhile, Supervalu was popular for last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve.
German giants Aldi and Lidl had their best Christmases yet, with growth of 8.8% and 4.6% respectively.
Mr Faughnan said: “The impact Aldi and Lidl have made on the ultra-competitive Irish grocery landscape is evidenced by the fact that more than 70% of households visited each retailer in the 12 weeks before December 30.”