Supermarket sales have increased by 3.6% compared with the same period last year, despite “disappointing” August weather, according to the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to 10th September.
Marking the sixth consecutive month in which sales have increased more than 3%, supermarket sales were aided by a 1.5% increase in the volume of goods going through the tills, with the remainder of the overall sales uplift being put down to higher prices, according to Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.
McKevitt commented: “We haven’t seen sustained market growth of this kind since May 2013.
“Like-for-like grocery inflation now stands at 3.2%, slightly ahead of the headline consumer price index rate and down 0.1 percentage points on last month. The average British household spends almost £4,200 in the grocers each year so a fall in inflation, which we expect to see as we approach the end of the year, will be a welcome relief.”
Lidl marked a 19.2% increase in the aforementioned period, taking its market share to a record high of 5.3%, up 0.7% on last year, with growth being particularly notable among fresh and chilled products.
What’s more, Aldi’s sales growth of 15.6% took its market share to 6.9%, with McKevitt noting: “Collectively Aldi and Lidl now account for nearly £1 in every £8 spent in Britain’s supermarkets – a decade ago this was only £1 in £25.
“In the past three months almost 63% of shoppers visited one of the two retailers, up from a level of 58.5% last year.”
However, 98% of households still shopped in at least one of the traditional ‘big four’ retailers over the same three-month period, with sales at Tesco being up 2.7% in the past 12 weeks, said McKevitt.
In addition, volume sales at Morrisons have been lifted for the first time since January, with sales of its premium ‘The Best’ line being up 38% year-on-year, making it the fastest growing premium range, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Sainsbury’s market share fell 0.2% to 15.7%, while Asda has attracted an additional 482,000 shoppers through the tills compared with a year ago.
