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Festive drinks lead Christmas grocery spending boom
Alcohol sales proved to be a key driver of Christmas spending in 2024, with sparkling wine and Champagne taking centre stage. Shoppers spent £187 million on celebratory fizz, marking a 4.4% increase compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from Kantar.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “It was a solid Christmas at the supermarkets with sales surpassing £13 billion during the four weeks of December for the first time ever, showing people were clearly in the mood to celebrate and spend.”
While traditional alcoholic beverages dominated, there was also a notable rise in the popularity of low and no-alcohol options. Kantar’s data shows that 11% of British households purchased a low or no-alcohol drink in December, up from under 10% the previous year.
The trend towards indulgent spending extended beyond alcohol, with premium own-label lines rising by 14.6% and branded goods growing by 4.2%. Nine in ten households treated themselves to at least one premium product over the holiday season.
Supermarkets toast strong December performance
Supermarkets benefitted from shoppers’ festive spirit, with December marking their busiest month since March 2020. On average, households made nearly 17 separate shopping trips, while Monday 23 December emerged as the biggest shopping day of the year, with sales up 30% on any other day in 2024.
Tesco saw the strongest growth among the major grocers, with sales up 5%, increasing its market share to 28.5%. Sainsbury’s achieved its highest market share since 2019 at 16.0%, with 3.5% sales growth. Lidl and Aldi also performed well, recording their highest-ever Christmas market shares at 7.3% and 10.0%, respectively.
Meanwhile, online grocery sales hit a record £1.6 billion as 5.6 million households opted for delivery or click-and-collect services. Ocado saw a 9.6% sales increase, boosting its market share to 1.8%.
Alcohol sales reflect changing consumer preferences
Kantar’s data revealed generational differences in festive shopping habits. Younger shoppers under 45 were more likely to choose Mediterranean-inspired items such as antipasti, panettone and sausage rolls, while over-45s accounted for the majority of sales in fortified wines and Christmas cake.
As grocery price inflation rose to 3.7% in December, alcohol sales demonstrated resilience, with both premium and low-alcohol options contributing to the overall festive success of supermarkets.
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