Christmas spree brings supermarket spending to record €13bn for 2020 

Spending at supermarkets during the full 12 weeks of Christmas spending climbed by 17% from 2019 festive period

Spending at supermarkets during the full 12 weeks of Christmas spending climbed by 17% from Christmas 2019.

Irish supermarkets topped off an extraordinary year as shoppers spent €1.2bn on their groceries at Christmas, sending sales soaring during the 2020 pandemic year to a new annual record of just short of €13bn.

The figures from market researcher Kantar complete a picture that shows shoppers spent more at the five big supermarket chains and at independent grocers because there were few other ways of spending money for people who had kept their jobs. 

In its assessment, Kantar retail analyst Emer Healy hailed the record grocery sales as Ireland marking "a Christmas like no other".

Spending at supermarkets during the full 12 weeks of Christmas spending climbed by 17% from Christmas 2019, according to Kantar. 

In the full year, spending soared to €12.97bn from the €11.17bn spent in 2019. 

The record figures were also up sharply from the €10.85bn in sales posted in 2018 and the €10.56bn in sales in 2017.

There were also surprises in the shopping baskets, as shoppers spent €1.2m less on whole turkeys than a year ago because health precautions meant fewer large family gatherings, Kantar said. 

Annual price inflation ran at 1.6% over Christmas.     

“Although not a traditional Christmas, shoppers still endeavoured to make it a merry one and to treat themselves after a tough year," Ms Healy said. 

"Our collective sweet tooth saw an extra €6.7m spent on chocolate confectionery this December.  We also parted with €3m extra on cheese and, as we all raised a glass to the end of 2020, alcohol sales soared by 33%," she said. 

Kantar said the biggest winner in terms of the growth of sales from a year ago was Lidl, helped by a huge increase of sales of alcohol in the months before Christmas. 

However, with a share of 22.5%, Dunnes secured the top slot in terms of overall sales over the full 12 weeks of Christmas. It was followed by Tesco and SuperValu, both with shares of 22.1%. Lidl secured a share of 11.8% ahead of Aldi's 11.2%.

Together, the five supermarkets maintained their long-standing grip, with almost 90% of all sales. Outlets such as Marks & Spencer, Boots, Spar, Centra, independent greengrocers and butchers, and cross-border shops fought for 10.3% of the grocery market among households in the Republic.  

Kantar said just over 4% of December's €1.2bn in sales were online. That compares with online's share of 2.8% in Christmas 2019.