Insight: convenience stores shone during hot summer
New figures on the grocery market have revealed that supermarkets’ convenience format stores benefited from the hot weather this summer as consumers shopped closer to home.
The figures from Kantar Worldpanel show there was a collective 7.6% uplift in sales from convenience stores in the 12 weeks to 9 September.
Kantar also found that shoppers spent £228 million more on alcohol as trade was boosted by the World Cup.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The warm summer has been kind to the supermarkets’ convenience format stores as consumers shopped locally for drinks and barbecue supplies, collectively growing sales by 7.6% compared to last year.
“Co-op was a particular beneficiary and increased sales by 8.5%, its fastest rate since 2011. Tesco Express also benefited from shoppers staying close to home and performed especially well, contributing to total sales for Tesco rising 1.9%.”
Co-op’s share of the market was 6.6% in the period while Tesco’s was 27.4%.
According to Kantar’s figures, Aldi was the UK’s fastest growing supermarket in the period with sales rising by 13.9%. Nearly half of this growth came from the fresh and chilled aisles. Its market share was 7.6%. Meanwhile, Aldi’s rival Lidl increased its sales by 8.3% and took a market share of 5.5%.
Asda’s sales rose 3.1% after it attracted an additional 211,000 shoppers in the 12 weeks. This meant its market share was 15.3%. Morrisons grew its sales by 3% as it benefited from the popularity of its ‘The Best’ range. The supermarket’s market share was 10.2% in the period. Sales at Sainsbury’s rose at their fastest rate since December at 1.6%, although its share of the market fell by 0.4 percentage points to 15.4%.
Sales at the recently rebranded Waitrose & Partners edged up 0.8% to give it a market share of 5.1%. Iceland, whose market share was 2.1%, increased its sales by 6% as it offered customers ‘7 Day Deals’. Online specialist Ocado grew its sales by 7.9% in the 12 weeks, which meant its market share was 1.2%.
In the overall market, promotional sales fell and accounted for 32.4% of total grocery sales according to Kantar’s figures. This was the lowest level since June 2009.
McKevitt said: “Retailers are looking to offer consistently lower prices on everyday items rather than one-off deals and they have all reduced promotions as a result.
“That being said, consumers may not feel like they have more money in their pockets – grocery inflation has now reached 2.0%, adding £1.64 to each household’s weekly shopping bill. At the current rate, these price increases add up to an extra £85 per home annually.”
During the period the overall grocery market grew by 3.8%.
