Irish grocery sales reach €3.1 billion in Q4

According to the latest statistics from Kantar , Irish grocery sales were €3.1 billion in the 12 weeks to December 26, 2021 .

Thanks to spending Christmas with family and friends, sales in Ireland in December alone were €1.1 billion, just 0.6% below the record figure in 2020 and an increase of €141 million compared to 2019, equivalent to an extra €65 per household.

This spending was made up of both online and offline sales. Shoppers were eager to make up for lost time last year and were willing to spend more on the big event, Christmas, with an extra €3.1 million spent on Christmas dinners , including a €1.9 million increase in turkey sales.

In addition, sales of various festive foods also increased, including Christmas biscuits, cheese and sweets, which increased by €10.5 million compared to December 2020. There was also an increase in premium levels, with sales of premium own brands also reaching a record €58 million in December, €600,000 higher than in 2020.

Online grocery sales also continued to grow strongly during this period. Nearly 17% of Irish households bought groceries online in the last 12 weeks, and sales soared 9.3%. The survey results show that "Irish people have really accepted online shopping, and more and more people trust delivery services to get what they need. Online sales are far from reaching their ceiling. And more and more consumers are starting to join the online team, and there is still great market potential."

As in previous years, December 23rd was the busiest shopping day of the year, with people spending a total of €81.6 million in the day before Christmas. Despite concerns about supply chain issues and inflation, consumers trusted that retailers' shelves would be well stocked and left most of their food shopping until the last few days. This boosted retailers during the festive trading period, with all major grocery stores achieving year-on-year growth in the four weeks to December 26th.

As a small country in Europe, the Irish market is also booming under the overall e-commerce market trend.

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Ireland

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