Grocery sales hit 2024 high in October

Take-home sales at the grocers increased by 2.3 per cent over the four weeks to 3 November 2024 to reach £11.6 billion, making this the biggest sales month of the year so far according to the latest data from Kantar.

The take-home sales rise coincided with a jump in the number of shopping trips made by households, hitting a four-year high at 480 million.

“October 2024 was the busiest month for the supermarkets since March 2020, when people were preparing for the first national lockdown,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, commented.

“Trip numbers have been going up gradually for some time, but this steady march hasn’t reached pre-covid levels of shopping frequency just yet. The average for each household is slightly over four trips per week.”

Halloween played a part in galvanising sales and there are signs that some consumers are looking further ahead in the calendar, starting their Christmas shopping early, McKevitt noted.

Some 3.2 million households bought at least one pumpkin, and confectionery spending got a boost to £525 million in October as sales of chocolates and sweets both went up, climbing by 13 per cent and 7 per cent each.

“What’s interesting this month is the number of households who are already stocking up the cupboards for the big day in December,” McKevitt said.

“Some people think Christmas ads hit our screens too soon but it’s clearly important for retailers to set out their stalls early. 648,000 shoppers have already bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4 per cent of households picked up mince pies in October. With Black Friday on the horizon, the grocers will be hoping to capture a slice of the action there too. In the week up to 26 November last year, online and offline sales for typical Black Friday categories across all high street retailers were £1.6 billion higher than during an average week in 2023.”

Grocery price inflation was 2.3 per cent this period, up slightly on September’s figure but still within typical levels. The rate has now been below 3.0 per cent every month since the early summer.

Promotional activity by the grocers is helping to keep prices down and supporting sales of branded goods in particular, McKevitt explained.

“Spending on deals has been going up consistently for the past 18 months and it now makes up 28.6 per cent of all sales. Offers are helping to lift branded sales especially. The growth gap between brands and own-label is the biggest it’s been since February 2021, sitting at 4.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent apiece,” he added.

Ocado topped the growth table, boosting its sales by 9.5 per cent over the 12 weeks to 3 November 2024. With sales up by 7.4 per cent, Lidl was the fastest growing retailer with a bricks and mortar presence for the 15th period in a row, continuing this run into a second year.

Asda continued to see sales declining, being the worst performer in the three-month period to 03 November with a 5.5 per cent drop. Symbols and independents saw a sales decrease of 1.3 per cent, and Co-op, 2.1 per cent.

The two largest supermarkets in Great Britain also outperformed the wider market. With sales up across all its store formats and online, Tesco’s sales rose by 4.6 per cent taking it to 27.9 per cent of the market, up 0.6 percentage points on last year. Spending through the tills at Sainsbury’s climbed 4.4 per cent, making its overall share 15.5 per cent.

Asda’s hold of the market is now 12.5 per cent. Morrison’s sales grew by 2.4 per cent, outpacing the market average for the first time since June 2021. Its share of take-home sales remains at 8.6 per cent. Aldi held its share of the market steady year on year at 10.4 per cent.

Co-op and Waitrose’s shares sit at 5.7 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively. Iceland now makes up 2.2 per cent of the market, the same proportion as a year ago.