THE MOST POPULAR grocery shopping day of the year last year was 23 December.

That’s according to market research company Kantar, which estimates that the take-home value of sales over the four weeks to 29 December 2024 increased by 4.4%.

Reaching nearly €1.4 billion, December was the biggest sales month of the year.

This is despite grocery price inflation increasing 3.6%.

In December, shoppers in Ireland also returned to store more often, making 23 trips on average to pick up Christmas essentials and luxuries, compared to just 17 trips on average in Great Britain.

Monday, 23 December saw consumers spend €107 million on that day alone – €11.9 million more than the highest trading day last year.

Shoppers spent €79 million more on alcohol in December than they did in November.

Champagne, wine, beer and cider were popular among shoppers accounting for €60.8 million of the increased spend.

Online, consumers spent an additional €28.3 million, increasing sales by 14.7% year-on-year.

Over the latest 12-week period, the number of online shopping trips increased 13.3%, with both new and existing online shoppers looking to save time during the busy Christmas period, adding €28.3 million to the platform.

Kantar monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 5,000 demographically representative households in the Republic of Ireland.