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Supermarket giant Tesco has outperformed its rivals over the crucial Christmas period, as the omicron variant led people to avoid hospitality venues and eat more at home.
The UK’s largest grocer grew its market share to 27.9% over the 12 weeks to Boxing Day, an increase of 0.6%, according to data just released by market researchers Kantar Worldpanel.
Online grocer Ocado also had a good Christmas – it was the only retailer to grow sales versus last year, while every major grocer increased sales compared with pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose also grew their market shares by 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.
Overall, take-home grocery sales dropped by 3% in the last 12 weeks compared to 2020, when lockdowns forced people to eat at home more. But spending is still higher than pre-pandemic, with sales 8% stronger than in 2019. And in December, people spent nearly as much in the supermarkets as a year…
