The cost of buying groceries in Ireland soared by more than 15% last year and inflation in Irish supermarkets is now at its highest level ever recorded by retail analyst Kantar.
Despite dramatic price increases, Irish shoppers are spending more than ever before Christmas, with grocery sales reaching a record €1.3 billion.
According to Kantar, takeaway grocery sales in Ireland increased by 10% in the four weeks to 25 December 2022, and store visits increased by 7%.
First Christmas without Covid-19 restrictions since 2019, shoppers spend an additional €119m, sales record €1.3bn, strongest growth month since February 2021 became.
Grocery inflation is now at 15.4% for the 12 weeks to 25 December, the highest ever and even higher than the UK’s current 14.2%.
Shoppers spent €95.31 more compared to the same period last year, thanks to a significant increase in the average price per pack. But value sales increased him by 6.7%, while purchase volume fell by 4%, so grocery price inflation was the real factor behind this, not the increase in purchases.
“Christmas was certainly different this year. While 46.5% of shoppers claimed to spend less than they did before, the cost of living crisis has prompted Irish families to seek ways to lift their spirits. We didn’t stop, said Emer Healy, Senior Retail Analyst at Kantar.
Nearly half of the population stocked up on €94.4 million in celebratory treats through the cash register on Friday, December 23rd, the busiest shopping day of the year.
This is €8.6 million more than last year’s busiest trading day, December 23rd. Sales of festive treats such as chocolate, cheese and pate increased by 9.9% of his, and mince pies increased by 15.5% of his, but all fell in volume at the same time.
Wine bucked the trend, with shoppers spending €13.3m year-on-year and sales volume up 7.3%.
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Smaller Christmas get-togethers in 2020 and 2021 led to more households choosing whole turkeys, and 25,000 more households are eating whole turkeys this year. This reflects that his 32% of buyers had five to seven of hers scheduled for Christmas dinner.
Sales of cold and flu products and household cleaning products also increased in December as Irish shoppers spent €828,000 on cold remedies and €547,000 on vitamins.
Christmas without restrictions also meant more people were entertaining others and cleaning their homes, resulting in shoppers spending an additional €6.8 million on household items and cleaning supplies.
Online sales continued to perform well in December, up 8.5% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €4.7 million. The online share is now 4.6%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points compared to December 2018, as the average cost of a virtual basket is currently €88.79, an increase of €11.70 compared to 2018. , the effect of inflation is obvious.
Dunnes Stores continues to hold the highest share among all retailers at 23.7%, a year-on-year growth of 9.6%.
Dunnes had the strongest growth in the retailer’s premium private label merchandise, with a 22% year-over-year increase. Tesco accounts for 23% of the market with 8.9% year-on-year growth and has the strongest frequency growth of all retailers at 10.6% year-over-year.
SuperValu accounts for 21% of the market, growing 1.2% and recording the highest number of store visits of 21. Lidl holds his 12.2% share, the strongest growth of all retailers with a 10.1% year-on-year increase.
Value ornament label sales grew the most, with a 47.2% year-on-year increase. Aldi accounts for his 11.6% of the market, growing 7.1% year-on-year.
