Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons all run offers in December (Image: Getty)
There’s less than a month to go until Christmas and shoppers are already trying to work out the best time to head to the supermarket and stock up on all the festive essentials from mince pies to parsnips.
Although it may seem like being organised and getting in early is the best way to avoid the crowds and the chaos, some of the best bargains at , , , and actually come in the middle of December.
Customers looking to grab cheap deals on Christmas dinner essentials should, based on offers run in previous years, be waiting until mid-December according to money expert Martin Lewis.
Every year, the major supermarkets wage a Christmas price war and use cheap vegetables to lure customers in to complete their Christmas shopping.
:
Money expert is warning that you should wait until the deep discounts begin to get your Christmas shopping for less – and not be afraid to leave it quite late.
The supermarkets use Christmas veg like carrots, parsnips, swede and cabbage as ‘loss leaders’ to drive shoppers into stores just before the big day.
That means they’re losing money on the vegetables, but the supermarkets hope customers will spend big overall for their big Christmas shop, so the loss is made back in other areas.
Speaking on The Money Show on , Martin said: “Christmas veg, from the 16th of December, that’s when they really start to discount it to get you in-store to go and do your Christmas shopping if you haven’t done it.”
Martin was rushing through his mile-a-minute festive deals predictor on the TV show, so later added more detail via his MSE website: “For the last few years, supermarkets have been battling in a price-war over Christmas vegetables a few days before Christmas.
“ went first last year, reducing potatoes to 15p, and a range of Christmas veg (including swede, sprouts, parsnips, carrots and cabbage) to 19p in-store from Mon 18 Dec.
“ joined in a day later on Tue 19 Dec, where Clubcard members could get various veg from 15p, and Sainsbury’s did the same for Nectar members where again various veg was reduced to 15p.”
It wasn’t mentioned by Martin, but Asda also offered 15p potatoes, carrots and broccoli in December 2023, too.
is also predicted to run its half price toy sale soon. In the past two years, the promotion began on November 15 or 30.
Martin’s MSE added: “Last year, Tesco had two pre-Christmas sales, the first on Wed 15 Nov lasting till Sun 26 Nov, then again in December from Wed 13 Dec till Thu 28 Dec.
“The discount of up to 50% was the same, but the Nov sale had more toys included (about 400), while the Dec sale had fewer (about 200). We haven’t seen this for Nov yet, but keep your eyes peeled for Dec”.