GROCERY SALES IN Ireland increased by 10% in the four weeks before Christmas and visits to shops rose by 7% compared to the same period of 2021, according to the latest figures by research group Kantar.

The first Christmas since 2019 without Covid-19 restrictions saw shoppers spend an additional €119 million, making it a record-breaking month with sales of €1.3 billion, and the strongest growth since February 2021.

However, grocery price inflation stood at 15.4% for the last three months of 2022, the highest level yet.

Shoppers spent an additional €95.31 compared to the same quarter in 2021, and the volume of sales was actually down 4% despite the record-breaking revenue.

Households also stocked up on cold and flu products as respiratory illnesses began doing the rounds in late December.

Shoppers spent an average of €205,000 per week on cold treatments in December, and over €130,000 on vitamins.

This is more than double the weekly average for cold treatments in December 2021, which was €100,000 a week.

Senior retail analyst at Kantar, Emer Healy, stated:

“Christmas was certainly different this year. Even though 46.5% of buyers claimed they would spend less than previous years, the cost-of-living crisis didn’t stop Irish families from looking for ways to keep spirits high, with the average shopper spending €58 more on groceries during December than they did last year.”

“Nearly half of the population stocked up on festive treats on Friday 23 December, the busiest shopping day of the year, with €94.4 million going through the tills. This was €8.6 million more than the busiest trading day last year (also 23 December).”

A change in attitude towards Covid-19 following the pandemic has also changed shopping habits and is reflected in today’s data, Healy explained.

“Smaller Christmas gatherings in 2020 and 2021 led to more households opting for rolled turkey, but this year 25,000 more households tucked into whole turkeys, reflecting the 32% of buyers that planned on having 5-7 people for Christmas dinner,” she said.

“A restriction- free Christmas also meant that more people were hosting others and cleaning their homes, resulting in shoppers spending an additional €6.8 million on household and cleaning products.”

In December Dunnes Stores continued to hold its place as the most popular chain for grocery shopping at 23.7% of the market share with growth of 9.6% year-on-year.

Tesco was close behind at 23%, followed by Supervalu with 22%, Lidl with 12% and Aldi at 11%.

Online sales remained strong last month, up 8.5% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €4.7 million.

Online shopping now sits at 4.6% of the grocery market, up 2.5% points compared to December 2018, but the impact of inflation is evident as the average cost of a virtual shop is now €88.79, up €11.70 compared to 2018.