Coronavirus stockpiling sees grocery sales rocket beyond Christmas spend

By Hugh Radojev2020-03-31T09:49:00

Sainsbury s Nine Elms Trolley self checkout

Supermarket sales growth for March was the biggest on record as nervous consumers stockpiled groceries as the UK went into lockdown to contain coronavirus pandemic.

Sales across the wider grocery market grew by 20.6% year on year in March, the biggest increase on record according to the latest data from Kantar. During the period customers spent more than £10.8bn on groceries, which was more than is spent at Christmas.

Over the last 12 weeks, supermarket sales grew at the fastest rate in more than a decade, up 7.6%.

The explosion in sales was driven by people shopping more frequently and buying slightly more, with the average UK household spending an extra £62.92 at the supermarket over the last four weeks.

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