Take-home sales at the grocers increased by 2.3% over the four weeks to 3 November 2024 to reach £11.6 billion, making this the biggest sales month of the year so far according to the latest data from Kantar.
The take-home sales rise coincided with a jump in the number of shopping trips made by households, hitting a four-year high at 480 million. “October 2024 was the busiest month for the supermarkets since March 2020, when people were preparing for the first national lockdown,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar. “Trip numbers have been going up gradually for some time, but this steady march hasn’t reached pre-covid levels of shopping frequency just yet. The average for each household is slightly over four trips per week.”
Grocery price inflation was 2.3% this period, up slightly on September’s figure but still within typical levels. The rate has now been below 3.0% every month since the early summer. Promotional activity by the grocers is helping to keep prices down and supporting sales of branded goods in particular.