In a bid to get the best Christmas products without bigger prices, shoppers switched £62.8m spend to Lidl GB – almost triple that of Christmas ‘21. This contributed to a rise of +24.5% in overall sales Year on Year and witnessed Lidl celebrate its busiest ever day of trading in 28 years on Friday 23rd December. (That's Christmas believes that was the day we bought the veg, the stollen and the extra mince pies?)
Families filling their fridges and food cupboards with produce from Lidl GB were also able to benefit from some of the lowest prices on the market, with a Christmas dinner costing a very reasonable £2.75 per head. As people turned to the discounter for seasonal staples, its ‘Pick of the Week’ Christmas veg returned at a very tempting 19p each, with sales jumping by over a third (37%) Year On Year. (YOY)
Festive treats also topped shopping lists with Lidl’s Deluxe 24 Month Matured Christmas Pudding sales increasing by 185% YoY. Fuelled by the Negroni Sbagliato trend which went viral online, the retailer helped households enjoy almost 7 million glasses of prosecco. Traditional Christmas classics remained popular with 1.7m glasses of Lidl mulled wine served, and sales of its premium Deluxe own-label cheese range increased by nearly 30%.
Ryan McDonnell, the CEO at Lidl GB, said: “Every week of the year we are seeing more customers coming through our doors, switching spend to Lidl from the traditional supermarkets. We know they switch to us to make savings, but then they stay with us when they realise that they’re not having to compromise on quality, and this Christmas was no exception.
“Our strategy - great quality products offered at low prices - has remained the same since we first opened our doors over 28 years ago. But that is only because it’s as relevant now as it ever has been. It is working because we are seeing big switching gains with over £63m of spend moving to us in the four weeks to the 25th of December. We only see this momentum continuing in 2023.”
As people looked to get into the festive spirit, many turned to the discounter to decorate their homes, with sales of Christmas lights and decorations up 85% and 71% respectively. It was also the season for giving, with over 1.8 million rolls of wrapping paper sold, equating to over 6,000 miles, the distance from London to the North Pole and back again.
Lidl shoppers also showed their generosity by way of the supermarket’s initiatives supporting the wider community, with over 60,000 new and unopened toys and games being donated to families in need over Christmas through its Lidl Bear Toy Bank.
Following its pledge to make its largest community food donation ever, the equivalent of 1 million meals were donated through surplus food donations. On Christmas Eve alone, the retailer donated approximately 150,000 meals to those who were in need.
McDonnell went on to say: “As we head into another new year, we’re laser focused on strengthening our infrastructure across the country. As we continue with the expansion of our distribution centres in Belvedere and Bridgend, we’re set to open our biggest ever warehouse in Luton later this year.
"This doubles down on our efforts of giving more communities access to our unrivalled quality-value combination, something that’s particularly important as families continue to tighten their belts in the current climate.”
