Year-on-year growth in December was 9.4%, with sales reaching a new Christmas record at £12.8 billion. This growth was primarily driven by inflation, with volumes slightly down by 1%, reflecting cost of living pressures faced by consumers.
Despite this, grocery inflation has in fact fallen for the second month in a row, indicating we may potentially be over the peak.
This pressure is also highlighted by growth in sales of own brand ranges, up by 13.3%, compared with a 4.7% increase in branded lines.
Online market share has fallen slightly to 11.6%, but store visits were up 5% compared with the previous year. Omnichannel supermarkets such as those in the Supermarket Income REIT portfolio are agnostic between channels, and are therefore able to capture this shift in consumer behaviour.
