Grocery market shows sluggish growth
New figures on the UK grocery market have shown sluggish growth in the 12 weeks ending 16 August with a year-on-year sales increase of 0.9%.
The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel reveal that Sainsbury’s was the only one of the ‘big four’ supermarkets to grow its sales, which edged up 0.1%. However, the retailer saw a fall in market share which dropped to 16.3%.
Sales at Tesco fell by 0.9% which meant its market share was 28.3%.
Morrisons’ sales decline of 1.1% and its market share of 10.8% was a reflection of a tougher comparison against last year when a widespread voucher promotion was in place.
Asda retook its position as the UK’s second largest supermarket, despite a fall in sales of 2.5% and decline in market share to 16.6%.
Speaking of Asda, Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The retailer’s greater focus on non-food items means its market share is traditionally higher in the summer, and it’s expected that Sainsbury’s will again become the number two retailer towards Christmas.”
Kantar found that Iceland attracted more shoppers through the door than at the same time last year. Sales were up by 3.4% as a result although its market share remained flat at 2%. The increase in sales was attributed to the retailer’s efforts to create a more premium image for frozen food, as well as new store openings including its Food Warehouse format.
Waitrose had another successful period, with its ‘Pick Your Own Offers’ promotion helping to drive growth of 3.7%. For the second month in a row, there was also growth at the Co-operative with sales at the till up by 1.1% compared to last year. Market share at Waitrose and the Co-operative was 5.1% and 6.4% respectively.
Meanwhile, growth at Aldi accelerated to 18% with its market share standing at 5.6%. Lidl’s sales also rose, up 12.8%, taking its market share to a new high of 4.1%.
