A Merry Lidl Christmas: Lidl doubles Prosecco sales in record Christmas trading

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Lidl has bagged its best ever Christmas sales figures as it doubled its Prosecco sales in December.

The discount grocer celebrated a 10 per cent sales increase year-on-year in December, but shoppers weren't just reaching for the booze – sales of carrots parsnips, Brussel sprouts and potatoes jumped 60 per cent. Turkey sales increased by 40 per cent.

Read more: A Lidl competition: Aldi becomes the highest-paying supermarket in the UK

Lidl made full use of social media to boost interest in its products. It ran a Twitter campaign on lobster, promising to drop its lobster price if people tweeted about it. On the Saturday of the price drop, Lidl sold more than 40,000 lobsters – which was probably also because the lobster cost just £3.

Christian Härtnagel, Lidl's UK chief executive, said: "It's incredibly encouraging that, during this highly competitive time, we have achieved our most successful festive trading period ever.

"We also remain fully committed to our ongoing expansion plans, which will see the opening of up to 50 new stores next year, along with two new regional distribution centres, creating thousands of new jobs up and down the country."

Adding 50 stores to its portfolio will leave Lidl with 700 stores by the end of the year (as long as none of its current stores, close of course).

Rival German discounter Aldi also proved popular with Prosecco enthusiasts this Christmas, selling over 2m bottles during the festive period, or 69,000 bottles. It also has expansion plans, with 70 more outlets in the pipeline for this year, which, without any store closures, will bring its total number of stores to 762.