Supermarkets see busiest sales month since pre-lockdown surge

Shoppers in Ireland made on average 23 trips to stores during December

The total grocery spend in the four weeks leading up to December 29 totalled just under €1.385bn. 

December marked the busiest trading month for supermarkets since the beginning of the pandemic when pre-lockdown spending led to a surge in sales, new data from market research firm Kantar shows.

The total grocery spend in the four weeks leading up to December 29 totalled just under €1.385bn which is a slight increase from the €1.327bn recorded during the same period in 2023. During this 12-month period, grocery price inflation ran at 3.6%.

Unsurprisingly, December was the biggest sales month of the year for supermarkets. Shoppers in Ireland made on average 23 trips to stores during this four-week period.

Business development director at Kantar, Emer Healy, said sales in supermarkets during December were the highest since the “pre-lockdown rush in March 2020” with December 23 being the most popular shopping day of the year after a spend of €107m.

The data shows that shoppers were willing to spend slightly more than usual with sales of branded products up 5.9%. Meanwhile, premium own label lines saw a sharp increase of 10.5%, surpassing the overall growth of own label products, which stood at 3.2%.

Over the last 12 weeks, shoppers spent nearly €140m on premium own label ranges. Sales on promotion hit a high of 23.8% in December. Shoppers spent an additional €28.3m online, increasing sales by 14.7% year-on-year.

Ms Healy noted that an additional €79m was spent on alcohol compared to November.

“Champagne, sparkling wine, beer, cider, and wine were popular among shoppers who spent an additional €60.8m compared to the previous month,” she said.

“Others enjoyed themselves in moderation, with 9% of Irish households purchasing no and low alcohol drinks in December, spending an additional €2m on these products.” 

Supermarket share

Dunnes Stores and Tesco lead the major retailers for share of consumer spending during the month. 

Dunnes Stores held 24.8% market share with sales growth of nearly 7% compared to last year. Tesco followed closely behind with a 24.2% share of the market.

SuperValu held a 20.5% share of consumer spending benefitting from customers making more trips on average compared to other retailers. The increased number of shopping trips and more items picked up per trip contributed €27.1m to its performance.

Lidl held 12.3% share while Aldi held 10.6%.