Lidl leads the way in UK Christmas sales
German supermarket reports an 11 per cent holiday period sales increase
German supermarket Lidl has reported an 11 per cent sales increase over the UK Christmas period. In a trading update, the discount chain attributed this growth to a 13 per cent surge in alcohol sales and a 55 per cent year-on-year rise in cheese sales. It also reported 55 million mince pies sales.
Kantar data shows that supermarket sales in the UK rose to £29.45bn from £29.30bn for the 12-week period to December 29. The research company says this is the slowest rise in four years.
However, Lidl saw the largest year-on-year increase in market share among other bricks-and-mortar supermarkets, jumping 10.3 per cent to 5.9 per cent.
While Lidl’s rivals Aldi, Iceland and Co-Op also achieved growth, overall sales at Tesco, Asda and Morrisons dipped.
Lidl opened its first UK store in 1994 and now has more than 760 stores and 13 regional distribution centres, employing more than 22,000 people in the UK.
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