Tesco has seen a 1.5% fall in UK sales in its Christmas and New Year trading statement.
According to chief executive Philip Clarke, further weakness in the grocery market as a whole contributed to the decline in UK like-for-like sales. However, the retailer took more than £1bn in the five days before Christmas and its UK online sales increased by 14% to £450m in six weeks.

Like-for-like sales were also down at Morrisons - by 5.6% - in the six weeks to 5 January. The company attributed the fall to difficult market conditions and discounts among its competitors.

Morrisons is set to launch an online food offer at Morrisons.com across much of the Midlands on 10 January. The service will then be extended to Yorkshire and the retailer expects to be covering 50 per cent of the UK by the beginning of 2015, including London.

Meanwhile, despite further declines in its clothing and homewares divisions, Marks & Spencer has reported record sales in its food business over the Christmas period.

In its Q3 Interim management statement for the 13 weeks to 28 December, chief executive Marc Bolland said that the company's food business had enjoyed 'an excellent quarter, with 4.1% growth and record sales over the Christmas period, including our biggest day ever in food of £64m on the 23rd December.'