Grocery market: big four retain shoppers despite strong growth from competitors
New figures on the grocery market show value growth of just 0.1% in the 12 weeks to 22 May.
The figures from Kantar Worldpanel reveal that all of the major retailers are continuing to see sales decline across the board.
Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “While the big four are struggling to keep their market share what’s clear is that consumers aren’t flocking away from their stores – their combined shopper numbers have dropped only 0.2% in the latest 12 weeks. In fact, 94% of Aldi and Lidl shoppers still visit at least one of the four major retailers every four weeks.
“However, consumers’ spend is increasingly being shared with other growing outlets which also include Waitrose, the Co-operative and Iceland and average household spend for the big four has dropped by 2.9%.”
Tesco saw signs of stabilising in comparison to historic declines over the past two years by showing the smallest drop in sales of 1% in the period. This meant its market share stood at 28.3%.
Sainsbury’s saw its sales decline by 1.2% which led to a drop in its market share to 16.2%. The fall in sales was driven by a decline in pack sales, which was the short-term result of shifting its promotional emphasis from multi-pack deals to straightforward price cuts.
Asda’s low-price positioning continued to feel the targeted effect of Aldi and Lidl’s growth. Sales fell 5.1% on last year giving it a 15.8% share of the market.
Morrisons continued to be affected by store disposals with sales dropping by 2.1% and its market share standing at 10.7%.
Meanwhile, Waitrose achieved a record share of the grocery market of 5.3% and grew its sales by 2.1%. The Co-operative continued its recent strong run, posting sales growth of 3.3% for the second period in a row to achieve a market share of 6.2%.
Lidl and Aldi remained the fastest growing retailers with sales up 14.2% and 11.4% respectively. This meant their respective market shares were 4.4% and 6%.
