Food inflation lowest since April 2022 but many consumers still feeling the pinch, says data firm Kantar
Grocery price inflation in the UK slowed to an annual rate of 6.7% in December, while retailers enjoyed their busiest Christmas since 2019, according to the data firm Kantar.
Inflation is now at its lowest level since April 2022, but many consumers are still feeling the pinch. Prices for sweets, eggs and frozen potato products rose fastest but prices fell for dairy items, including butter, milk and cream.
The rate of inflation is coming down at the fastest pace we have ever recorded, but consumers are still facing pretty hefty pressures on their budgets. Retailers were clearly working hard during the festive period to offer best value and win over shoppers, and promotions were central to their strategy. Nearly one third of all spend in the four weeks to Christmas Eve was made on items with some kind of offer, the highest level since December 2020 and £823 million more than last year.”
As we expected, this Christmas was a whopper. Friday 22 December turned out to be the most popular shopping day, when just over 25m trips were made and consumers spent £803m in physical stores – that’s 85% more than the average Friday in 2023. Online’s share of the market held steady at 11.6%, as nearly one in five households got a delivery in for the big day.
Over the coming months, some goods will take longer to be shipped.
We just about got used to shipments arriving on time after Covid, but at the moment with the Red Sea, that’s adding another 10 to 14 days to shipments.
You end up with a two or three week delay. We’ve got Valentine’s Day products that are likely to be delayed and miss Valentine’s Day.
Business | The Guardian
