Lidl ‘outperformed’ every other supermarket at Christmas

Supermarket Lidl said it outperformed every rival on the high street over the Christmas period, with bosses revealing families switched £110 million of their spend to the discounter.

During the four weeks to December 29, sales rose 11% compared with the same period last year, with its busiest day on December 23.

The company said the number of customers coming through its doors was a record high too, with strong growth in beer, wine and spirits sales – up 13%.

Bosses added that wine particularly shone through, with sales up 20% over the last year.

But attempts to win over more affluent customers took a slight dent as the supermarket chain said its best-selling wines – a Rioja Joven DOC and an Argentinian Malbec – were both under £5 a bottle.

More than 1,000 tonnes of cheese was snapped up – helping boost sales up 55% – and non-food sales also enjoyed a boost, rising 9%.

Christian Hartnagel, Lidl GB chief executive, said in a statement: “This was our 25th Christmas since first opening our doors in Britain, and what a Christmas it’s been, with more customers shopping at Lidl than ever before.

“We continued to open our doors to more communities across the country, which has no doubt contributed to our success.

“However, the number of customers switching to us in the lead-up to Christmas shows the continued appeal of the Lidl offer.”

The company added it has continued to invest in its store portfolio during the festive period, creating jobs across the country in time for Christmas. Lidl did not provide details of how many positions were created.

Bosses have already revealed plans to invest £1.45 billion in investment to expand to 1,000 stores by the end of 2023.

The results come after its main rival Aldi revealed it too had its best Christmas on record, banking more than £1 billion in the four weeks to December 24 – although the four-week period covered by Aldi is different to that covered by Lidl.