Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “The pressure on the traditional supermarkets from discount operators shows no signs of going away looking at Aldi’s strong Christmas showing.
“This follows up on counterpart Lidl’s own bumper festive trading announced last Friday.
“Aldi and Lidl are now established names in the UK, helped by pressures on household budgets which make their value credentials highly prized.
“By selling a more limited selection of mostly own-brand products Aldi manages to limit waste and secure good deals with suppliers, with its increasing size also bolstering its negotiating power.
“Keeping its store designs no-frills and cross-training staff for multiple functions also helps to keep costs low and it passes on these benefits to consumers.
“This has proved a winning formula and made life tough for several more established UK grocery names – bar perhaps Tesco which has the share and scale to meet the challenge head on.
“Later this week we will find out how Tesco and Sainsbury’s got on with their own performance over the Christmas period and how they managed to deal with the persistent challenge posed by the German discounters.”
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