Asda has become the fastest growing retailer in the past three months as shopper visits to stores have increased by 7% as they begin to prepare for the Christmas period.
Over the past 12 weeks, sales at the Big 4 grocer increased by 7.6%, compared to rivals Sainsbury’s and Tesco, which reported 5.1% and 4.8% increases respectively, according to the latest research from NielsenIQ.
However, Morrisons and Waitrose were the only retailers to see sales decrease when compared to the same period last year.
According to the data, discounters Aldi and Lidl both outperformed convenience stores, reporting a channel performance growth of 7.7%, compared with convenience stores and supermarkets, which grew by 4.3% and 3.1%, respectively.
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Total till values have grown from 4.7% to 5.3% over the last month, despite inflation levels continuing to rise and shoppers tightening their budgets.
Average spend per visit increased to £18.50 – compared to £18.20 last month – but is still lower than the same period last year when it was £18.70
Over the Christmas period, NielsenIQ expects more customers to be spending more on food and drink to consume at home. It also expects to see more growth at larger stores in the run up to the festive season as savvy shoppers hunt for the lowest prices.
The data also revealed that almost half of shoppers (49%) expect to buy special Christmas offers in their local supermarkets, suggesting they will spend if the price is right.
“There is some better news for retailers and suppliers as shoppers claim they will start to buy some items early for Christmas,” NielsenIQ UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins.
“Our recent consumer survey shows that 30% of shoppers will have started their Christmas shopping this year before mid-October compared to 18% last year. 27% also say they will buy Christmas gifts when they see them in store which suggests a ‘spreading the cost of Christmas’ mindset is ever more important this year as budgets are stretched.
He added: “The difference this year is that, due to inflation, we expect volumes to be down c4% with shoppers buying less and more carefully this Christmas. With the cost of grocery shopping still rising, this is motivating shoppers to shop and buy differently.
“With all of the big 4 supermarkets either giving extra price reductions or adding weekly vouchers to their loyalty schemes, this may prove the catalyst to help grow sales this Christmas.”
