The UK’s major grocers saw a return to “confident consumer spending” over Christmas, industry analysts TNS said today (11 January), which pointed to a “positive outlook” for the sector.
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TNS said its sales figures for the 12 weeks to 27 December showed that UK food retailers had witnessed a “premium Christmas” and indicated that “recessionary buying behaviour is all but over”.
The upbeat assessment from TNS came amid pessimism about the prospects for the UK economy in 2010 and after warnings from Sainsbury’s and The Co-operative Group of a challenging year ahead.
“Christmas is traditionally a time when shoppers prioritise the quality of food over value – but the recession put a stop to this in 2008. We are now seeing signs of a return to more traditional Christmas purchasing habits with a growth in premium ranges, particularly Tesco Finest, over the festive period,” said TNS director Ed Garner.
TNS said the “positive outlook” for UK grocery could be seen in the “strong performance” of most of the UK’s largest retailers and the analysts pointed to rising sales at Morrisons, which rose 10.3%.
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By GlobalDataThe data also claimed that Waitrose had seen its share of the UK grocery market rise the most since 2005, while Sainsbury’s again gained market share.
The researchers also suggested that discounters had “fallen out of favour” in the UK after Lidl lost market share for the first time since 2004.
