Aldi UK has recorded its “best ever” Christmas, with sales reaching over £1.5bn in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, with Lidl GB also posting that 4.5 million people shopped in its stores in December compared to the same period in 2022.

Aldi and Lidl saw 8% and 12% increases in their respective sales in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, with both chains stating that Friday 22 December was their busiest ever day of trading.

On this date, Aldi said that it had more than 2.5 million customers through its doors.

Head of investment at interactive investor, Victoria Scholar, said: "The German discounters which are best known for their rock bottom prices have enjoyed a stellar Christmas amid the cost-of-living crisis as price sensitive consumers trade down to Aldi and Lidl’s attractively priced offering.

"Also in an attempt to keep shopping bills low, consumers have been switching away from branded to own label cheaper products, something that has also helped spur demand for Aldi and Lidl’s unbranded ranges.

"The two supermarkets have intensified price competition in the UK, prompting other supermarkets to offer discounts and promotions and think of innovative ways to drive customer demand such as a renewed focus on their loyalty schemes."

The two firms are currently Britain’s fastest growing supermarkets, according to market research firm, Kantar, with shoppers turning to the discount chains as the cost of food and drink increased by 27% over the past two years, according to Reuters.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, said that these sales highlight changes that may need to be made by other supermarket brands.

Mould stated: "While neither of these discount grocery companies has its shares listed on a stock market, the festive sales news has a direct read-across to peers that do have publicly traded stock. This included Tesco which advanced 0.8% versus a mere 0.2% gain from Sainsbury’s – the share price reaction being the market’s way of saying which one it thinks will have had a better Christmas at the tills."

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