(qlmbusinessnews.com Wed, 3rd Jan, 2024) London, UK —
“Aldi and Lidl Ring in Record Christmas Sales: Festive Feasts on a Budget Win Shoppers' Hearts”
Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl have triumphantly announced their best-ever Christmas trading results, attributing their success to budget-conscious shoppers seeking to curb the expenses of festive celebrations.
Aldi's British arm disclosed that its sales surpassed a milestone, exceeding £1.5 billion in the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. The German retailer, boasting over 1,000 UK stores, reported an impressive 8% increase in sales compared to the previous year, with customers gravitating towards affordable alternatives such as beef rib and gammon joints as festive centrepieces.
Notably, Aldi highlighted the popularity of alternative roasting joints and revealed a staggering sale of over 42 million pigs-in-blankets during the Christmas period.
Rival chain Lidl, marking its best Christmas performance since entering the British market in 1994, reported a robust 12% year-on-year growth in UK sales. With more than 960 UK stores, Lidl welcomed 4.5 million additional shoppers through its doors. Both Aldi and Lidl experienced their busiest day of trading on record on Friday, December 22.
Despite the easing of the increase in the cost of living, households still faced pressure from elevated food costs. Patrick O'Brien, Retail Research Director at consultancy GlobalData, acknowledged the strength of Aldi and Lidl‘s sales figures, attributing their success partly to new store openings and the impact of high food inflation in the previous year.
Lidl emphasized the continued demand for a touch of luxury, revealing an 11% year-on-year increase in sales of its “Deluxe” lines from September 10 to December 24. Best-selling items included macarons and Christmas-flavoured crisps like parmesan and truffle.
New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) indicated a significant slowdown in food price rises in December. The BRC-Nielsen IQ Shop Price Index reported a drop in food inflation to 6.7% between December 1 and 7, down from 7.7% the previous month.
While retailers strive to maintain competitive prices in 2024, challenges loom ahead, including new border checks for EU-imported products and higher business rates from April, as noted by BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson. Despite a decrease from the peaks of 2022, inflation remains nearly double the Bank of England's 2% target, impacting households grappling with high energy and food bills and borrowing costs.
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