Consumers spent a total of €1.16 billion in grocery stores in the four weeks to 3 November, making it the biggest sales month of the year so far.
New figures from Kantar show that grocery sales jumped 6.4%, boosted by Halloween treats and early Christmas purchases.
Grocery inflation stood at 3.3%, down on the same time last year.
“October was an important month for Irish shoppers as they prepared for the first school holiday of the new term and Halloween, enjoying above-average temperatures that delayed the need to don winter woollies,” said Eimear Faughnan, Head of Retail at Kantar.
“Shoppers stocked up on Halloween treats, spending a ‘frightening’ €8.9 million more than last year on chocolate confectionery, €2.4 million on savoury snacks and €1.6 million on sweets,” she added.
The data suggests that households are also preparing for Christmas.
Shoppers spent an additional €774,000 on flour, fruit, nuts, icing and cake mixes as they ready their Christmas cakes.
Dunnes has topped the list of most popular supermarket, with a 24.5% market share, and a 9% rise in sales year-on-year.
Tesco is in second place with 23.4% of the market, with value growth of 9.6% on last year.
SuperValu holds 19.7% of the market and saw growth of 2.3%.
Lidl experienced a growth of 6.3%, capturing a 13.5% share of total spending, while Aldi grew by 1.2%, securing an 11.5% market share.
Over the latest 12-week period, shoppers took advantage of promotions spending an additional €40 million on deals compared to the previous period.
The share of products sold on promotion stood at 18.5%, while branded products outperformed own label for the third consecutive 12-week period.
Meanwhile, online sales rose by 11.8% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €21.5 million.
Article Source – Halloween treats boost grocery sales by over 6% – RTE
