UK shoppers spent £19.6 billion over the four weeks to Christmas 2025, an increase of 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year, according to figures from data firm NielsenIQ (NIQ).

With 29 per cent of households shopping for their festive groceries online, digital was the fastest growing channel, up by 9.9 per cent.

Overall e-commerce spending made up 13.5 per cent of sales, an increase from 12.6 per cent last year.

Online supermarket Ocado benefitted from the higher e-commerce sales, becoming the fastest growing retailer over the Christmas period at 12.8 per cent for the second year running.

With growth of 9.4 per cent, Lidl led amongst store-based retailers.

The figures also show that both Sainsbury’s and Waitrose had a successful trading period, seeing growth of 5.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

While promotional spend grew to 27 per cent of sales over the festive season, shoppers spent around one per cent more each shopping visit compared with the previous year.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business Insight at NielsenIQ, said that the convenience of shopping online benefited a lot of UK shoppers over the period.

“By taking advantage of booking delivery slots in advance, shoppers could do a ‘big Christmas shop’ online, including fresh foods, which helped drive growth,” he added. “This was then supplemented with in-store visits in the last few days before Christmas, allowing shoppers to search for further seasonal discounts, treats and indulgences.”

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