Aldi has reported its “best Christmas ever” after Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer said it made sales of more than £1.6bn in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, thanks in part to shoppers trading up to its premium range.
The supermarket chain said total sales for the crucial holiday period increased by 3.4% year-on-year, helped by a 12% increase in sales of its Specially Selected own-label products.
The German-owned retailer’s annual sales growth was slower than the 8% it recorded during Christmas in 2023, but it was still a consecutive record year for sales during the period.
The last three months of the year are known of as the “golden quarter” in the retail industry as households go on a spending spree for presents and food. Aldi said that Monday 23 December 2024 was its busiest ever trading day, with 3 million customers visiting. Its previous busiest day was Friday 22 December the year before.
It came after its fellow German-owned rival, Lidl, also reported record Christmas sales of more than £1bn. Lidl sales rose by 7% for the period, albeit after it increased its floor space by 3%. The two German chains have changed British spending habits by emphasising lower prices over extensive choice.
Aldi, with more than 45,000 staff across 1,020 stores, overtook Morrisons in 2022 to become the fourth largest grocer by market share, and it now has 10.3% of UK spending, according to data company Kantar. Aldi has claimed that it has overtaken the No 3 supermarket Asda in terms of shopper numbers, although Kantar data suggests it is two percentage points behind in spending terms.
However, Aldi has been put under pressure by the two market leaders, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which have both won back customers by pledging to match prices with the generally cheaper rival. Aldi said last year it had made £100m in price cuts to try to maintain its position.
Giles Hurley, Aldi UK’s chief executive, said the company “dropped hundreds of prices” as part of the battle to be cheapest.
“We will not only remain the UK’s lowest-priced supermarket, but we will ensure the price gap between ourselves and the traditional full-price supermarkets is as big as ever,” Hurley said.
Aldi said it sold 350,000 turkeys, more than 400 tonnes of beef, and almost 3m Brussels sprouts, as well as 50m mince pies and about 25m pigs in blankets over the festive period.