Marks and Spencer has reportedly seen a rise in food sales over the festive period, after customers splashed out on its Christmas range, according to closely guarded industry data.

The high street giant’s food sales increased by 10.5% in the four weeks to December 25 compared with 2021, according to the figures from Kantar.Visit Site

ThisisMoney reported that the figures indicate that it clear of its main rivals, which indicates a  “clear division” between firms holding their own and those falling behind.

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The leaked data revealed sales at Tesco and Sainsbury’s increased by 8.5% and 8.4% respectively in that period. However, those at Waitrose rose by 1.5%, while Morrisons fell.

“M&S has the momentum that some of its rivals, particularly Waitrose, would die for. The indications are that it is gathering pace at Marks & Spencer – while Waitrose seems to be falling further behind,” an industry expert claims.

Kantar also recently reported that more customers are switching over to Aldi and Lidl as a result of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, alongside soaring inflation.

The news comes as in December, Marks and Spencer, customers slammed the grocer over its 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar app.

Customers, who downloaded the app, were promised the chance to win freebies including gin snow globes and light up biscuit tins. However, some customers were not pleased with the prizes they had won, with others even struggling to get the app working at all.