Aldi Hits Record Sales Figures After a Festive Boost
- Budget retailer’s sales topped £10 BILLION last year
- Record breaking Christmas boosted sales
- First time the supermarket has broken the £10 billion mark
- Next also saw a rise in sales at Christmas, while Debenhams struggled
German retailer Aldi revealed that its’ 2017 sales figures were over £10 billion.
Aldi’s record breaking year was hugely helped by rise in sales over the festive period, as their cut-price veg and viral Kevin the carrot lured in customers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJEtUit57HY
The supermarket said its’ total UK sales were over 15% higher in December 2017, than in the same month the previous year.
Aldi’s ‘Specially Selected’ premium range, contributed to the increase in sales, as figures rose by 30% compared to last year.
Matthew Barnes, Aldi UK’s Chief Executive, said, “This was our busiest-ever Christmas, as million of festive shoppers switched to Aldi from more expensive food retailers.
“Although we saw strong growth across all categories, the performance of our premium Specially Selected range in particular surpassed all expectations.
“This is a clear sign that shoppers knew they could indulge in Christmas treats and festive essentials at Aldi for a fraction of the price they would pay elsewhere.”
Some of Aldi’s best sellers was its’ award winning range of Christmas drinks, as 6.8 million bottles of wine, champagne and prosecco were sold throughout December, an average of more than 200,000 bottles a day.
Cut-price veg and turkeys also helped sales, as in the run up to Christmas Aldi was the cheapest supermarket to get a last minute Christmas dinner from.
Shoppers queued from 5:30 am to try and get their hands on the carrots, which sold out within hours.
Aldi has also announced that it will increase its’ store assistants wages, to a minimum hourly rate of £8.85 nationally, and £10.20 in London, beginning 1st February.
This will make Aldi the UK’s highest paying supermarket.
Elsewhere, Next saw a rise in its’ Christmas sales.
The department store’s sales figures rose 13.6% online in the run up to Christmas, which was far better than the predicted fall of 0.3%.
It puts the retailer’s total sales for the year at £725 million, which is way lower than 2016’s £790 million in sales.
In contrast, Debenhams faced a drop in sales in the run up to Christmas.
Debenhams sales fell 2.6% in December 2017, compared to the same month in the previous year, due to a highly competitive market.
The retailer also admitted that their Boxing Day sale, which started on Christmas Day, went worse than expected.
Sergio Bucher, Debenhams Chief Executive, said, “The market has been challenging in some of our key seasonal categories, and we have responded in order to remain competitive for our customers, which has impacted our profit performance.”