British supermarkets last year enjoyed their best Christmas trading period since before the pandemic, industry data revealed on Wednesday.
Supermarkets collectively turned over £13.7 billion in the month to 24 December 2023, Kantar said, as customers made some 488 million trips.
Average household spend hit a record high of £477, meanwhile, as a year of mounting inflation looks to have taken its toll.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl emerged as the strongest-performing supermarkets over the period, scoring sales growth of 9.9% and 13.8% respectively, as per Kantar figures.
J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) then came out best among the traditional supermarkets as sales jumped 9.3% compared to the same period last year. Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO) also enjoyed strong sales growth of 7.5%, with each gaining market share over the period.
Own-branded products sold particularly well, Kantar continued, as sales of such - often cheaper - goods jumped 11.9%, compared to the 6% growth seen among labelled products.
“We're creatures of habit when it comes to Christmas and our data shows that the classic festive plate remains much the same,” Kantar retail insight head Fraser McKevitt said.
“However, mince pies and Christmas puddings did buck the trend. They were less popular this year.”
Shares in Tesco and Sainsbury’s climbed 1.4% and 1.9% respectively on the news.