Convenience stores proved vital in grocery over Christmas as stretched shoppers rushed to local shops to raid remaining supplies before the big day.

Sainsbury’s had a record hour of sales at convenience stores on December 23

Sainsbury’s reported that convenience store sales growth was up by more than 17% as like-for-like sales excluding petrol rose 0.9% for the 14 weeks to January 5.

Sunday trading hours on crucial December 23 - traditionally the busiest day of the year in grocery - caused shoppers to flock to large stores on the Saturday and Christmas Eve as well as head to convenience stores.

Sainsbury’s said December 22 was its busiest day overall while the 23rd was the busiest per hour. The grocer notched up £16m sales in one hour between noon and 1pm on December 23 and its convenience business had a record hour between 4pm and 5pm the same day.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King said: “Online and convenience are continuing to play a big part. Our convenience business delivered a roaring performance, which shows that either customers didn’t realise the limitations of trading on the Sunday, or had always planned to shop at convenience stores on the Monday.”

Rival Morrisons said its lack of presence in the rapidly growing convenience market, as well as not having an online operation, had cost it over the crucial Christmas period. Like-for-likes fell 2.5% over the six weeks to December 30, while total sales excluding fuel were down 0.9%.

Waitrose said it took £5m an hour on December 23. “Customers spilled in on the Saturday and the Monday,” managing director Mark Price said.

The grocer recorded its busiest ever Christmas, taking £300m total sales from December 18 to 31.

Frozen food specialist Iceland posted a 1.5% uplift in like-for-like sales in the nine weeks to the end of December.

Tesco and Marks&Spencer were due to report on Christmas trading as Retail Week went to press.

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