UK grocery sales up 3.8% in December year-on-year
UK grocery inflation eases to 4.3% in December
Ocado sales up 15% in 12 weeks to Dec 28, Lidl sales up 10%
Tesco sales up 4.3%, hits highest market share since March 2015
Asda continues to struggle
By James Davey
LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - British online supermarket Ocado OCDO.L and discounter Lidl recorded the highest sales growth in the Christmas quarter, while market leader Tesco and number two Sainsbury's also delivered solid performances, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator said overall grocery sales were 13.8 billion pounds ($18.7 billion) in the four weeks to December 28, up 3.8% year-on-year.
However, when grocery inflation of 4.3% is taken into account, sales on a volume basis were down. Inflation eased slightly from the 4.7% level recorded in the previous four week period.
SUBDUED CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS
Subdued consumer confidence had left analysts cautious about non-food UK retailers’ festive trading prospects, though they were more optimistic about food sellers.
Worldpanel said Ocado's sales rose 15.0% over the 12 weeks to December 28 compared with the same period a year ago, while Lidl was the fastest growing bricks and mortar grocer with sales up 10.0%.
Tesco's TSCO.L sales were 4.3% higher than in 2024, with its market share rising by 20 basis points to 28.7% - its highest since March 2015. Sainsbury's SBRY.L sales rose 5.2%, taking its share to 16.3%.
Number three player Asda continued to struggle - its sales fell 4.2% and its market share fell to 11.4%, down a whole percentage point on the year.
Sales of groceries at Marks & Spencer MKS.L rose 7.2% over the 12 weeks year-on-year. M&S is not included in Worldpanel's market share data.
The inflation figure from Worldpanel provides an early indication of pricing pressures ahead of official UK inflation data on January 21.
Lidl and Aldi have already updated on Christmas trading. Tesco and M&S are scheduled to report on Thursday, with Sainsbury's following on Friday.
UK supermarkets' market share and sales growth (%)
Market share 12 weeks to December 28 2025 | Market share 12 weeks to December 29 2024 | % change in sales (year-on-year) | |
Tesco | 28.7 | 28.5 | 4.3 |
Sainsbury's | 16.3 | 16.0 | 5.2 |
Asda | 11.4 | 12.4 | -4.2 |
Aldi | 10.1 | 10.1 | 3.9 |
Morrisons | 8.5 | 8.6 | 2.6 |
Lidl | 7.8 | 7.3 | 10.0 |
Co-operative | 5.1 | 5.3 | -1.3 |
Waitrose | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
Iceland | 2.3 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
Ocado | 2.1 | 1.9 | 15.0 |
Source: Worldpanel by Numerator
($1 = 0.7390 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)
((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com))
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