Big Black Friday fight in the UK as Amazon takes on Asda, Tesco, and others
Black Friday week could provide a significant sales boost for the grocery stores in the UK, particularly online. But they will all be competing with the giant that is Amazon.
New data published by Worldpanel by Numerator shows that during this period last year, Amazon remained the destination retailer for general merchandise, while Tesco and Asda took second and third spot respectively in the battle for spend.
Across the market, there was an average sales uplift of 114% with the data showing that electronics, beauty, and toys had the biggest spike in sales versus a typical trading week in 2024.
“Online remains the fastest growing part of the grocery market and spending on home delivery rose by 11% this month, with every retailer that offers the service boosting sales,” the group said.
“Online growth is primarily being driven by the already converted as existing shoppers continue to value the convenience of the format and make more orders. On average, households who use online grocery now buy three shops a month, making up a whopping 61% of their spending at the grocers.”
The battle for Christmas spend
Looking further afield, Christmas ads are hitting our screens, and the race to the big day is on in the supermarket sector.
Grocery price inflation has slowed to 4.7% this month as retailers ramp up promotions ahead of Christmas. Take-home sales at the grocers grew by 3.2% over the four weeks to 2 November versus last year, with spending on deals specifically climbing by 9.4%. By comparison, spending on full-priced goods rose by just 1.8%.
This shows that retailers are very alive to the financial struggles that some households are facing, not least ahead of this year’s Budget. They’re eager to show how they’re offering shoppers value for money, putting the emphasis on price cuts rather than multibuy offers.
“Despite tightening belts, we are predicting a new sales record for retailer premium lines this year with the potential to hit more than £1 billion in December,” Worldpanel by Numerator said.
“It’s important to remember that shoppers often look for great value and quality, not just the cheapest product. At Christmas especially people want to treat themselves and throughout the cost of living crisis we’ve seen them turning to retailers’ premium own label lines to do that in a way that’s more affordable.”
Sales of these goods were worth £582 million in the latest month and they are likely to double as Christmas edges nearer, topping £1 billion in the month of December for the first time ever.
