Insight: grocery sales rise at fastest rate since September 2013
Latest figures on the grocery market show that overall sales grew by 3.8% in the 12 weeks to 21 May to mark the sector’s best performance since September 2013.
The figures from Kantar Worldpanel also reveal that food inflation rose by 2.9%.
Morrisons put in the best performance of the big four supermarkets with growth of 1.9%. Sales of its premium own label range ‘The Best’, has been key to the retailer’s success with sales up by over a third on last year as nearly 800,000 additional shoppers chose products from the line during the period. The supermarket’s market share was 10.5% in the 12 weeks.
Tesco increased sales by 1.8% year-on-year, attracting over 250,000 additional shoppers during the period. This meant its share of the market was 27.8%.
Sales rose by 1.7% for Sainsbury’s, fuelled by a strong performance both online and for the retailer’s local convenience stores. Its market share in the period was 15.9%.
Asda’s market share was 15.4% after a sales uplift of 0.9% while Waitrose saw sales growth of 3.3%, although its market share slipped slightly to 5.2%.
Meanwhile, Aldi and Lidl’s sales rose by 19.8% and 18.3% respectively which meant their markets shares were 7% and 5%.
Chris Hayward, consumer specialist at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Once again all ten grocers have seen sales increase, no doubt boosted by higher prices as inflation continues. Own label is also a major source of growth for all of the retailers, with sales up an impressive 6% year-on-year in contrast to branded products which grew by just 0.6% during the same period.
“More broadly, a drive for health – perhaps after the excesses of Easter, when the nation consumed £325 million worth of Easter eggs – has helped boost performance, with volume sales of mineral water up 7.4%, eggs up by 5.1%, fresh produce up 2.1% and sugar down 5.6% year on year as shoppers filled their baskets with healthier options.”
