Grocery price inflation has slowed in some good news for consumers as retailers ramp up festive deals ahead of Christmas, figures show.

Supermarket prices were still 4.7% higher than a year ago in October, but this was down from September’s 5.2%, according to market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator, formerly Kantar.

Spending on deals climbed by 9.4% to just under 30% of all grocery purchases, while spending on full-priced goods rose by just 1.8%.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “Christmas ads are hitting our screens and the race to the big day is on in the supermarket sector.

“Retailers are very alive to the financial struggles that some households are facing, not least ahead of this year’s Budget.

“They’re eager to show how they’re offering shoppers value for money, putting the emphasis on price cuts rather than multibuy offers.”

Despite tightening belts, Worldpanel is predicting a new sales record for retailer premium lines this year, suggesting it has the potential to hit more than £1 billion in December.

Mr McKevitt said: “It’s important to remember that shoppers often look for great value and quality, not just the cheapest product.

“At Christmas especially people want to treat themselves and throughout the cost-of-living crisis we’ve seen them turning to retailers’ premium own label lines to do that in a way that’s more affordable.”

Online remains the fastest growing part of the grocery market and spending on home delivery rose by 11% over the month.

On average, households who use online grocery now buy three shops a month.

Ocado posted a new record share for the 12 weeks to November 2, hitting 2.1%, as it remained the fastest-growing grocer for the third month in a row.

Tesco and Lidl both added half a percentage point of share to their market positions, with Lidl boosting sales by 10.8% over the 12 weeks to take its share to 8.2% and Tesco now accounting for 28.2% of the market with a sales increase of 5.9%.

Sainsbury’s achieved growth of 5.2% to gain market share of 15.7%.

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp has sold its stake in US chipmaker Nvidia for $5.8 billion, signalling a strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence investments, particularly in OpenAI, the company said on Tuesday, AP reported. The tech conglomerate also reported that its profit nearly tripled in the first half of the current fiscal year, driven by strong returns from its Vision Funds.The Tokyo-based firm said the Nvidia shares were sold in October as part of Chairman Masayoshi Son’s broader plan to redirect resources toward next-generation AI ventures. SoftBank’s net profit for the April–September period surged to about 2.5 trillion yen (roughly $13 billion), while sales rose 7.7 per cent year-on-year to 3.7 trillion yen ($24 billion).SoftBank’s earnings tend to fluctuate sharply due to its exposure to multiple high-growth and high-risk ventures. However, its tech-heavy portfolio has seen a rebound in 2025 amid the global AI boom.Earlier this year, Son joined US President Donald Trump, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison in announcing Project Stargate — a proposed $500 billion mega-initiative to develop AI infrastructure and computing power.SoftBank has already invested tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI and plans to expand AI services in Japan through the collaboration. The sale of its Nvidia stake marks a deliberate reallocation of capital — locking in gains from Nvidia’s meteoric rise while freeing funds for direct AI ventures.Nvidia recently became the world’s first $5 trillion company, fuelled by soaring demand for AI chips. The company has also announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to build at least 10 gigawatts of new AI data centres to boost computing capacity.While SoftBank no longer holds Nvidia stock, it maintains ties through various portfolio companies that use Nvidia technology in AI and robotics. SoftBank also holds stakes in Arm Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), both of which have benefited from the AI-driven surge in chip demand.SoftBank’s stock has nearly doubled over the past year, rising 2 per cent in Tokyo trading on Tuesday. Nvidia shares slipped 1.3 per cent in premarket trading after climbing 5.8 per cent on Monday.The company’s latest move cements Masayoshi Son’s aggressive shift toward becoming a global powerhouse in artificial intelligence — a bet that echoes his early vision for the future of computing.