Latest data from Kantar shows take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased in value by 5% over the four weeks leading up to 1 December, reaching €1.24bn. As Irish households stocked up for Christmas, November became the biggest sales month of 2024 so far, with the number of shopping trips up 1.4% compared to the same period last year.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, commented: “Last year, we saw a whopping €87m go through the tills on the 23 December, and we’re expecting this again with Monday 23 December set to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year. But there are clear signs that Irish shoppers are stocking up early, especially when it comes to festive favourites. Shoppers spent an additional €4.5m on assorted biscuits and crackers compared to the previous month, while 15% of all households bought mince pies and more than 36% purchased seasonal chocolates in November.
“With most of us looking to treat ourselves at this time of year, Irish retailers are making sure we celebrate in style with seasonal lines and festive treats being rolled out across stores. Shoppers spent an additional €104m on branded products over the latest 12 weeks, while sales of premium own-label products were up a significant 10.5% over last year. We also saw shoppers spend €18m more on branded biscuits and beer & cider compared to this time last year.”
Kantar’s data shows that for a family of four, the cost of an average Christmas dinner in Ireland has risen to €34.74, up 2% on last year, driven mainly by the price of turkey and Christmas vegetable staples, with brussels sprouts and mince pies seeing an increase of over 10% in price versus this time last year. Wider grocery inflation increased to 3.6% versus 3.3% last month.
Healy said: “Sales on promotion reached 22% in November, the highest level we have seen since February this year, up 4.2% compared to last year. Shoppers are grabbing the chance to indulge and spend that bit more than usual on festive favourites. It’s perhaps no surprise that beer & cider and biscuits saw the highest levels of promotional spending”.
Shoppers spent an additional €28.7m online, with value sales up 15.4% year-on-year. In the latest 12-week period, the number of online shopping trips increased by 17%, while new shoppers looking to save time during a busy period leading up to Christmas added an additional €34.8m online.
Looking at the performance of individual retailers, Dunnes held 24.9% of the market after seeing sales grow 7.8% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their number of trips to its stores by 7.9% and picked up more packs per trips, which contributed a combined €72.1m to their overall performance.
Tesco controlled 23.6% of the market, with value growth of 7.6% as shoppers increased their trips to store by 6.7%.
SuperValu held 19.9% of the market with growth of 3.5%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 24.4 trips over the 12 weeks. The increased number of shopping trips and additional items picked up per trip contributed €20.2m to its performance.
Lidl took a 13% share of total spending. Increased trips to its stores and higher volume per trip drove an additional €35.4m in sales, up 5.9% versus the same time last year. Aldi’s market share slipped to 11.2% after growth of just 2.5%, with an increase in trips contributing an additional €25.5m to its performance.
