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UK grocery sales boom in November to hit record £10.9bn
8th Dec 2020 10:36
(Sharecast News) - UK grocery spending surged to an all-time high of nearly £11bn in November, industry data showed on Tuesday, as the second national lockdown came into effect and shoppers began stocking up for Christmas.
A total of £10.9bn was spent in supermarkets in November, according to the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar, the single largest month ever.
Sales were boosted by the second national lockdown, which shut non-essential shops as well as pubs and restaurants. In the 12 weeks to 29 November, take-home grocery sales surged 11.3%, and by 13.9% in the last four weeks.
Online sales also benefited. The share of overall market sales made online reached a record 13.7% in November. It echoed data by Nielsen, also published on Tuesday, which showed the online share of grocery spending reaching 13.6% after sales surged 109% compared to November 2019.
The second national lockdown ended on 2 December, but Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, predicted that shopping patterns would continue as households looked to make the most of Christmas after a difficult year.
"December's numbers are likely to surpass [November's], and we expect spend to be close to £12bn in the month ahead, around £1.5bn more than last year," he said.
"42% of Britons said they are pushing to make this the best Christmas in memory, while over a third are planning to put Christmas lights up early because of the pandemic. Many people have begun the countdown to Christmas already, using more time at home to go big on festive revelry. Sales of turkeys, both whole birds and ready-to-roast joints, are up by 36% on last year."
Nielsen, meanwhile, reported UK supermarket sales increasing by 10.1% in the four weeks to 28 November, with weekly sales growth peaking at 13% in the week ending 7 November as consumers prepared for the lockdown.
Mike Watkins, Nielsen's UK head of retail and business insight, said: "Pandemic lifestyle shopping habits have now become engrained for UK shoppers, and are likely to remain for some time."
However, Nielsen was more cautious looking forward, with its research indicating that one in four shoppers intended to spend less on Christmas groceries than usual. Half said it was because they were entertaining less, while more than a third cited financial concerns.
Amid individual grocers, Kantar said that J Sainsbury's share remained steady at 15.7%, with sales up 10.8% in the latest 12 weeks, while Tesco's sales rose 10.4% and Asda's 7.7%, giving them market shares of 27.0% and 14.1% respectively. Wm Morrison reported a market share of 10.3% following sales growth of 13.7%.
Ocado grew by 38.3%, while its former partner Waitrose increased sales by 13.2%, its fastest rate of growth since 2005.
Grocery inflation now stands at 1.4% for the 12 week period to 29 November, Kantar said.
A total of £10.9bn was spent in supermarkets in November, according to the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar, the single largest month ever.
Sales were boosted by the second national lockdown, which shut non-essential shops as well as pubs and restaurants. In the 12 weeks to 29 November, take-home grocery sales surged 11.3%, and by 13.9% in the last four weeks.
Online sales also benefited. The share of overall market sales made online reached a record 13.7% in November. It echoed data by Nielsen, also published on Tuesday, which showed the online share of grocery spending reaching 13.6% after sales surged 109% compared to November 2019.
The second national lockdown ended on 2 December, but Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, predicted that shopping patterns would continue as households looked to make the most of Christmas after a difficult year.
"December's numbers are likely to surpass [November's], and we expect spend to be close to £12bn in the month ahead, around £1.5bn more than last year," he said.
"42% of Britons said they are pushing to make this the best Christmas in memory, while over a third are planning to put Christmas lights up early because of the pandemic. Many people have begun the countdown to Christmas already, using more time at home to go big on festive revelry. Sales of turkeys, both whole birds and ready-to-roast joints, are up by 36% on last year."
Nielsen, meanwhile, reported UK supermarket sales increasing by 10.1% in the four weeks to 28 November, with weekly sales growth peaking at 13% in the week ending 7 November as consumers prepared for the lockdown.
Mike Watkins, Nielsen's UK head of retail and business insight, said: "Pandemic lifestyle shopping habits have now become engrained for UK shoppers, and are likely to remain for some time."
However, Nielsen was more cautious looking forward, with its research indicating that one in four shoppers intended to spend less on Christmas groceries than usual. Half said it was because they were entertaining less, while more than a third cited financial concerns.
Amid individual grocers, Kantar said that J Sainsbury's share remained steady at 15.7%, with sales up 10.8% in the latest 12 weeks, while Tesco's sales rose 10.4% and Asda's 7.7%, giving them market shares of 27.0% and 14.1% respectively. Wm Morrison reported a market share of 10.3% following sales growth of 13.7%.
Ocado grew by 38.3%, while its former partner Waitrose increased sales by 13.2%, its fastest rate of growth since 2005.
Grocery inflation now stands at 1.4% for the 12 week period to 29 November, Kantar said.