Despite some gloomy portents before Christmas and some lacklustre trading weeks in the run-up to the big event, the festive season lived up to its name for many store groups.

It almost seems as if a record number of retailers have unveiled record Christmas figures. And joining the record breakers on Tuesday was Tesco, which smashed consensus expectations of 3% like-for-like growth to post a 4.9% uplift in its core UK market. It was the retailer’s best Christmas result in three years.

At times last year investors left Tesco’s shares on the shelf, preferring to pile its rivals’ stock into their shopping trolleys. The fear was Tesco had lost its way as rivals prospered with strategies introduced by new leadership.

But Tesco fought back and its Christmas performance signals that it still retains the qualities that made it top dog. In light of the improving trend, Tesco’s critics shifted focus to initiatives such as double Clubcard points and an extra Clubcard mailing over Christmas. Ahead of the grocer’s update, they demanded to know if such measures had flattered seasonal performance.

Tesco did not duck the question and revealed that the promotions added 0.7% to UK like-for-likes. Without them, Tesco’s resulting 4.2% growth would still have showed its heels to the consensus expectation.

Shoppers clearly liked the Clubcard deals - over £34m more was redeemed on the various initiatives than the comparable period and the scheme is a powerful weapon in Tesco’s armoury. What Tesco said also clicks with the message from Sainsbury’s last week, when it too flagged up the popularity of its similar initiatives through Nectar. In the year to come one of the factors to watch will be the extent to which such schemes influence, and perhaps polarise, grocers’ performance.

Last year supermarkets’ share performance was lacklustre against general retailers’. The grocers’ good Christmas may prompt a fresh look from investors. Tesco, which looks as if it has put behind it doubts that undermined its stock last year, is likely to remain on buy lists.