Discount supermarkets grow rapidly over 'tricky' Christmas period

“Rising to the challenge, Aldi and Lidl collectively managed to attract nearly one million additional households during the past three months,” he said.

Premium

Both grew sales by 16.8 per cent year on year in the 12 weeks to December 31, according to Kantar Worldpanel, with Aldi attracting shoppers from the traditional retailers with its premium Specially Selected range.

And a 22 per cent boost in the dairy aisles, alongside a £23m increase in sales of fresh produce, helped Lidl grow its market share by 0.6 per cent year on year.

And Aldi was expecting to continue to grow in 2018 after opening 72 new stores in 2017, taking it to 762, with the aim of reaching 1,000 UK stores by 2022.

Big 4

Tesco was the fastest growing of the big four, with sales up 3.1 per cent, with Sunday trading hours on Christmas Eve increasing sales at Tesco Express stores.

Sainsbury's already benefitted across its convenience stores, with overall sales growing by 2 per cent. Co-op was the only major retailer to see a fall in sales of 0.2 per cent.

Iceland grew sales by 2.9 per cent, with more than half of the increase coming from products beyond the retailer’s traditional frozen lines.

Asda benefitted from a strong online performance with sales up 2.2 per cent. Overall online supermarket sales saw their biggest ever Christmas, with sales up 4.9 per cent year on year.

But Ocado comfortably outpaced the market with growth of 8.4 per cent.