Report comment

The key themes from Christmas so far are continued growth in online and a positive picture for the Discounters, whilst mid-range players have struggled.

Food is a relatively cheap way of making Christmas Day feel special, so it will be interesting to see how the premium end of the grocery sector has done later this week. At the opposite end of the spectrum Aldi have reported record Christmas sales, siting their ‘premium’ Specially Selected range as a key performer.

The Discounters certainly haven't sat back and relaxed after the gains of the last few years. Continued store openings, refurbishments, and forays into premium ranges see them continuing to take the fight to their mainstream competitors. And they are doing that not just through value, but by recognising that today’s shoppers have choices, and will frequent the store environments that appeal to them. Value is not a winning formula on its own – even if the economic environment gets tough again.

As we saw in the previous recession, shoppers can flex their choices to make savings in the areas that they feel aren’t so important to them as individuals. It takes real understanding to know how to meet shoppers needs when times are tough, and real flexibility to turn that understanding into a retail offer that hits the spot.