The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Lidl had its busiest ever day in the UK in 28 years on December 23, 2022 as cash-strapped British consumers turned to the German discounter for cheaper groceries.
The bumper sales day helped swell Lidl’s sales by 25% in the four weeks to Christmas with more than 1.3 million extra customers shopping at the supermarket chain. The discounter gained £63 million ($77 million) of spending from rival supermarkets, almost three times the figure in 2021.
Soaring food inflation in the UK has pushed many households to switch to cheaper grocers and to buy own-brand goods. Inflation drove up shoppers’ spend to over £12 billion on groceries for the first time in December while sales volumes fell as much as 1%, according to Kantar.
Lidl almost tripled its sales of its deluxe Christmas pudding. The grocer is opening more stores and expanding distribution centers in Belvedere, south east London, and Bridgend in Wales. It’s also set to open its biggest ever warehouse in Luton later this year.
Rival Aldi also recorded a jump in Christmas sales thanks to the cost-of-living squeeze.