Big four supermarkets under pressure in fight for share of grocery market
The big four supermarkets came under pressure again in June as discounters Aldi and Lidl and upmarket grocer Waitrose helped drive the continuing polarisation of the grocery market.
The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel covering the 12 weeks ending 7 July 2013, show that Lidl grew its market share to 3.1%, an all-time high for the discounter, while Aldi retained its record share of 3.6%. Growth rate at Waitrose was also strong at 10.9%, nearly three times the market average, giving the retailer a 4.8% share of the market.
Among the big four supermarkets, only Sainsbury’s has managed not to lose market share in the past year with year-on-year growth of 3.8%. Although Morrisons is continuing to lose share, Kantar said its sales growth had shown progressive improvement during 2013 – rising from the low of -1.7% in January to the current figure of 1.8%.
Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl have all been hugely successful in recent years, growing well ahead of the market average. Together, these retailers now account for 11.5% of the grocery market, 3.2 percentage points more than they did this time four years ago. This trend has cut deeply into the available market share for the bigger retailers who are now having to compete for a contracting middle ground.”
The latest data also shows that recent price matching campaigns at the larger retailers have served to shine a spotlight on private label quality. Garner added: “The latest price matching promotions from retailers have reduced the amount consumers are shopping around, with many people feeling that they can get the same prices at different retailers.
“As a result we are seeing an increased focus on quality. Both Tesco Finest and Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ ranges are now growing strongly and Aldi’s ‘Like Brands only Cheaper’ campaign and Lidl’s ‘Taste Test’ are positioning their private products as direct competitors to major brands.”
