Ocado and Lidl continued to lead in sales growth over the 12 weeks to 22 March with an increase of 12.3 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively, according to the latest figures from Worldpanel by Numerator.

Sainsbury’s achieved record sales growth of 5.5 per cent since June 2025, and Tesco experienced a 5 per cent increase.

Retail sales at Aldi and Morrisons increased by 2.3 per cent, respectively, and Waitrose’s sales went up by 5.8 per cent, which is the fastest rate of growth in five years.

Asda continued to remain in a sales slump, with a decrease of 0.9 per cent; however, this figure marks the best performance since April 2024.

Shoppers are preparing for the Easter season, with over 40 per cent of shoppers picking up at least one pack of hot cross buns in the past four weeks while 30 per cent bought at least one Easter egg.

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The overall take-home sales at the grocers grew by 4.4 per cent in the four weeks to 22 March compared to the same time last year.

The rate of like-for-like grocery inflation held steady at 4.3 per cent, and over 60 per cent of Brits said they were very or extremely concerned about the rising price of groceries.

Head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt at Worldpanel by Numerator said: “Financial anxiety among British consumers was already running high before the conflict began. And with grocery inflation likely to increase and fuel costs rising sharply, the conditions that make shoppers feel vulnerable are only intensifying.

“Shoppers will look to lessen the impact on their baskets when faced with rising prices, and while there remains a level of uncertainty, we are watching the data closely for behavioural changes like trading down and switching which often emerge during periods of economic pressure.”