Ocado Group PLC still winning as supermarkets enjoy record spending as lockdown

UK supermarkets enjoyed their largest month ever in November, boosted by early Christmas shopping and a second national coronavirus lockdown.

A record £10.9bn was spent in-store and online over the past four weeks, according to research by Kantar, as the closing of pubs, restaurants and other eateries over much of the month in England and Wales resulted in higher spending on food and alcohol in supermarkets.

December is expected to set a new record, with Kantar projecting almost £12bn will be spent this month, roughly £1.5bn more than last year.

Grocery sales were up 11.3% over the 12 weeks to 29 November, up from just over 9% in the previous two reports.

Online grocery shopping also thrived during lockdown, with a new record of more than six million households shopping via a grocer’s websites or apps during the past month, accounting for 13.7% of all sales.

The joint venture between () and () continued to make the most of this trend, with 38.3% growth in the latest 12-week period compared to last year..

Since it started selling M&S products, Ocado Retail’s share of the chilled ready meals market has tripled to just over 3%, Kantar said.

Among the other big players, Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC () was again the winner, with increases in store and online helping grow sales 13.7% over the 12 weeks compared to last year, gaining 0.2 percentage points of market share to 10.3%.

’s () sales jumped 10.8% year in the latest 12 weeks, with its market share steady at 15.7%.

() sales rose 10.4% but its market share dipped from 27.3% to 27%.

Asda, as it prepares to part company from parent Wal-Mart, continued to lag, with sales up 7.7% and its market share dropping from 14.6% to 14.1%.

Kantar’s Fraser McKevitt said that after a tough year, shoppers were determined to make the best of Christmas, with a Kantar Worldpanel survey finding that 42% of Britons are pushing to make this the “best Christmas in memory”.

“Many people have begun the countdown to Christmas 2020 already, using more time at home to go big on festive revelry.”

Sales of turkeys, both whole birds and ready-to-roast joints, are up by 36% on last year, while more than £11mln was spent on Christmas puddings and 238% more has been spent on Christmas lights.

Mince pie sales, however, are down by 8%, which McKevitt said was a reflection on the fewer opportunities to share treat with friends and colleagues.