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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.
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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.
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@John Fagan: well if Irish Rail, Dublin Bus already do this – I don’t see why something as important as hospitals don’t do it. Many a bed was taken up by patients who couldn’t go home because the doctor / consultant wasn’t working week ends !
HSE staff are already burnt out. EDs are overflowing with overcrowding normally seen at the height of winter not late Spring/early Summer. I’m not sure what the answer is but it’s not this
@S: More home based services for the elderly would be a start. Too many elderly people who are not sick per se, clogging up hospital beds. Pay the carers a decent wage and free up the hospital system. The country never had so much money at its disposal so I can’t see the problem with it.
@Mary Walshe: completely agree with you on that. Plus once in the hospitals the medical team order scans and tests that are nearly always not needed, are invasive, uncomfortable, scary and can cause more problems than they can diagnose (eg kidney damage from dye).
Would it not be easier for the govt/HSE to make it illegal for anyone to get sick/have an accident/ have a heart attack/ deliver a baby between Friday afternoon & Monday morning ???
Try making an appointment with your GP say for a dislocated elbow. I was given a 9 day away appointment. 9 days!
Told me to go to a hospital if i want to be seen quickly. I asked why its takes so long to get an appointment, her reply : covid.
This country is ruined by FFG, ruined.
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