Kantar Worldpanel’s latest grocery market share figures for the 12 weeks to 5th November show that supermarket sales have increased in value by 3.2% year on year in the run up to Christmas.
Fraser Mckevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explained: “Volume sales have increased by less than 1%, meaning it’s price rises keeping supermarket performance buoyant.
“Like-for-like grocery inflation now stands at 3.4% – its highest level since November 2013. With the average shop currently costing £18.26, consumers are now paying an extra 62 pence each time and over the course of a year it could add £143.70 to a typical family’s grocery bill.”
Lidl is Britain’s fastest growing supermarket for the fifth consecutive period, with sales up 15.1%. New store openings, and the opportunity they bring to attract new shoppers, have contributed to the impressive performance.
Some 10.6 million households visited Lidl at least once during the past three months, boosting the grocer’s market share by 0.5 percentage points to 5.1%. Sales at Aldi increased by 13.1%, advancing the retailer’s market share to 6.7%.
Meanwhile Sainsbury’s grew sales by 2.6%, attracting an additional 364,000 shoppers to become the fastest growing among the big four for the first time since April 2016.
Tesco welcomed 76% of British households during the past 12 weeks, growing sales by 2.3% as its market share dipped to 28.0%: down 0.2 percentage points on last year.
Morrisons saw sales increase by 2.1%, accompanied by a marginal fall in share, from 10.5% last year to 10.4% during the latest quarter.
McKevitt continued: “Asda has enjoyed its eighth consecutive period of growth, the longest run of sales increases the retailer has seen since March 2014.”
Sales at Iceland increased by 1.1%, with share falling slightly to 2.0% – down from 2.1% last year.
McKevitt added: “Amid news that Nisa’s shareholders have backed Co-op’s takeover of the group, there is plenty of room for growth. Convenience stores in all their forms currently account for 12.1% of grocery sales. Nearly 60% of UK households currently visit this type of retailer, spending £3.2 billion in smaller stores during the past 12 weeks.
“Co-op is already the nation’s most frequently visited grocer – shoppers pop in almost twice a week on average – despite having seen sales fall by 1.5% compared to the same period last year.”
Waitrose held market share steady year on year at 5.3%, seeing sales growth across the board, from convenience stores, larger supermarkets and online. Internet specialist Ocado increased sales by 6.8%, growing ahead of the overall online grocery market.
