Asda is stocking up its new petrol convenience stores with last-minute Christmas essentials as 22 and 23 December are expected to be the busiest days on the roads.
The supermarket giant is predicting that alcohol will be the most popular last-minute gifting item as it expects to sell over 12,000 bottles in its smaller format Express stores, with beer making up most of this at over 9,000 boxes.
Asda expects to sell over 6,000 chocolate gifting items, including Cadbury’s Heroes, Milk Tray and Roses, as well as the Lindt bear, Santa and balls.
It also predicts 7,000 boxes of mince pies and 1,600 boxes of Yule Logs will be sold.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
Sales of these confectionery and alcohol lines are predicted to increase further on Christmas Day.
Aside from gifting, Asda is also preparing its stores with cold weather travel essentials as it expects to sell over 4,000 units of de-icer and ice scrapers, as well as 9,000 pints of screen wash.
This comes as Asda plans to open a record 81 new Express convenience stores this month alone as it pushes ahead with expansion plans to have 1,000 sites in 2024.
The conversions of its recent acquisition of Co-op and EG UK sites, alongside the opening of eight standalone Express stores brings the total number of convenience stores to 229 nationwide, with another 254 ex-Co-op sites due to be converted by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
