Tesco emerges victorious as online grocery shopping hits record high during lockdown

A breakdown of the stats reveals 7.9 million British households placed an online grocery order, up from 4.8 million last year, including 1.1 million new online shoppers.

While online sales soared 103% year-on-year, sales growth in stores was also up by 6.6%, despite visits to the shops being down.

The amount shoppers spent on each visit was up 45%, as shoppers bought more groceries than normal.

Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s head of retailer and business insight, said: “Following over eight weeks in lockdown, UK shoppers are more accustomed to restricted living, and have adapted their grocery shopping habits to match. Online has been a clear winner ... as shoppers take advantage of retailers’ increased delivery capacity.”

The biggest gainer was Tesco with sales up 11.7%, while Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons also recorded rises.