Supermarket sales rise 9.6% amid Easter boost

Total Till sales increased 9.6% at UK supermarkets during the last four weeks ending 19 April 2025, up by 2.7% against sales recorded in March, as the late Easter boosted sales for April, according to new data released by NielsenIQ (NIQ).

This rise was helped by shoppers opting to “indulge themselves”, with 76% of households saying they planned to host gatherings over Easter with family and friends. NIQ said many shoppers were also encouraged to spend with attractive seasonal discounts and overall promotional spend of FMCG sales growing from 22.9% last month to 24.2% leading up to Easter. This takes promotions back to the same level as Easter 2019 and also Christmas 2024.

NIQ data also shows that early spring and sunnier weather saw in-store sales grow (+9.4%) ahead of online (+6.3%) over the last four weeks with online share dipping to 12.3% of FMCG sales compared with 12.7% a year ago.

A fall in consumer confidence over April failed to deter shoppers when buying food and drink, with deals such as half price lamb and pre-packed vegetables on offer at 15p.

This led to Brits spending £47m on legs of lamb (+26%), as well as shoppers spending more on fresh berries (+22%) to enjoy at breakfast and dessert. Promotions would also have played their role with the growth of these categories with four in 10 households likely to buy extra items in meat, fish, poultry when there is a good promotion.

The strongest category performers were confectionery, snacks and soft drinks (+19.3%) as well as general merchandise (+11.7%) and fresh foods (+11.6%), helped by the start of spring and a shift towards al fresco activities and Easter dining. There was however slower growth for ambient cupboard food (+1.1%) as well as sales of household and pet items (+0.8%).

Beers, wine and spirits sales also grew (+6.4%) with shoppers spending £56m, an extra +18%, on prosecco. As expected, confectionery sales also increased 40% with £349m spent on chocolate confectionery.

Mike Watkins, head of Retailer and Business Insight at NIQ, said: “Easter has traditionally been a time of year when the larger supermarkets captured more of the incremental spend but this year, Aldi and Lidl also gained market share. There was a weaker performance from Asda and Morrisons with Tesco gaining market share and Sainsbury’s holding market share over the last 12 weeks. M&S sales were also strong at +14.7%.

“But growths were lower in the convenience channel where sales were up just +5.2% in the last 4 weeks (NIQ Scantrack Consumer View). The good news for Ocado is that they remain the fastest growing retailer and had a strong Easter – particularly against some tough year ago comparatives, helped by their wider ranges and also the attraction on M&S food for the Easter holiday.”