Coronavirus Flash Report - 7th November

This flash report contains:

• UK Market Context
• Summary of UK Performance
• Category Performance
• Top Manufacturers
• Bottom Manufacturers
• Christmas Trackers

Summary of UK Performance

• With England entering its 2nd lockdown on the 5th November, this has seen sales grow +4.2% compared to last week.
• This week's sales of £2.49b are £324m higher than last year and show an element of panic buying as consumers filled their cupboards as they planned for the minimal 4 weeks of restricted movement. However, having to stay at home has helped drive those categories such as Eating at Home and BWS as restrictions close many OOH channels.
• The additional £324m spent in the latest week was driven by an increased Grocery spend of £257m and £67m in Non Food.
• Tracking of Christmas 2020: Based on the latest 6 weeks of sales, the Christmas categories in focus are 12.3% (£499m) ahead of last year. Whilst COVID-19 makes tracking the performance of Christmas difficult, we know that with the 2nd lockdown, consumers have brought forward their festive shopping.
• Since the beginning of 2020 and predominantly since the start of COVID-19, UK Retailer sales are £7.239b higher than last year, driven by Ambient (+£2.09b) and BWS (+£1.98b).

Overall sales grew +4.2% this week compared to last week with Grocery sales up +2.9% and Non Food sales up +9.1%

Top 35 Categories based on Value Change for the Latest Week