Asda was the only major British supermarket to see its sales fall over the peak Christmas trading period, despite consumers spending a record £13.8bn at the grocers.
Data from Worldpanel shows the grocer’s market share fell one percentage point as sales dropped 4.2% in the 12 weeks to 28 December.
It comes as take-home sales at the grocers reached a record £13.8bn in the four weeks to December 28, up 3.8% year on year.
Supermarkets’ premium own-label lines surpassed the £1bn milestone for the first time in December with products finding their way into 92% of baskets.
Worldpanel reported that while traditional large format supermarkets accounted for 60.3% of sales over the four-week period, discounters enjoyed their biggest ever share of sales over Christmas reaching a total of 16.8%.
Lidl made the greatest market share gain in the sector, adding 0.5 percentage points to claim 7.8% after sales jumped 10%.
Sainsbury’s market share reached 16.3%, while Tesco saw its hold on the market edge up 0.2 percentage points to 28.7%.
Worldpanel by Numerator head of retail and consumer Fraser McKevitt said: “Easing inflation helped to take the edge off the cost of Christmas this year, giving households a little more room to spend.
“It was a Christmas of smart savings and considered choices – almost every household bought into supermarkets’ premium ranges, while price remained front of mind.
“Discounters enjoyed their biggest-ever Christmas share, and shoppers leaned on their loyalty cards to get the best deals.”
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