Shoppers seek out festive deals as UK grocery inflation remains high

(Sharecast News) - Grocery price inflation remained elevated in November, industry research showed on Tuesday, prompting hard-pressed shoppers to seek out festive promotions. According to the latest data from Worldpanel by Numerator, formerly Kantar, inflation held steady at 4.7% in the month to 30 November, unchanged on October.

Prices rose fastest in chocolate - up 18.4% - fresh unprocessed meat and added-value poultry, and fell in sugar confectionary, household paper and fragrances.

Take-home sales rose 3.4%. Just shy of a third of spending - 31.2% - was on promoted items, up from 30% a year previously.

The cost of a Christmas lunch for four people was also a few pence cheaper than in 2024, at £32.46, as supermarkets looked to keep the price of festive favourites affordable.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: "Retailers are pulling out all the stops to win shoppers over as they gear up for one of the most important trading periods of the year.

"On in five households tell us that they've been struggling financially and that's been largely consistent over the past two years."

Sales are expected to exceed £13.6bn in December, Worldpanel noted.

"Retailers are savvy to the fact that at Christmas especially, even when times are tough, consumers still find space in their wallet to spend on small treats," McKevitt added.

Among individual grocers, one of the biggest winners was discounter Lidl. It saw sales surge 10.2% in the 12 weeks to 30 November, giving it a market share of 8.1%. Larger rival Aldi posted a 4.1% uplift, to give it a 10.5% share.

The biggest increase, however, was at online-only Ocado Group, where sales surged 15.8%, giving the blue chip a market share of 2.2%.

Online remained the fastest growing segment of the grocery market in November, with overall sales up 8%.

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, saw sales rise 4.7%, giving it a share of 28.3%.

At closest rival J Sainsbury, the sales growth was larger, up 5.1%. Sainsbury's holds a 16% share of the market.

In contrast, sales at Asda - which has been hit hard by stiff competition - fell 4.3%.