The UK food and grocery market is forecast to grow by 15% between now and 2022, according to grocery research organisation IGD.
IGD is predicting growth across all the major grocery channels, and forecasting that by 2020, one in every £7 will be spent at a discounter, up from one in every £9 now.
’Discounters’ are said to focus on everyday low prices, and include all sales of food discounters such as Aldi and Lidl. This also includes variety discounters such as Wilkinson’s and Poundland.
On discounters, Joanne Denney-Finch, IDG chief executive, said: “Discounters will contribute most to the cash growth in the market over the next five years, as they continue to open new stores and keep improving the shopper experience with new additions such as food-to-go, self-checkouts and larger stores.
“Four in five (79%) shoppers say they have visited a variety discounter for some of their grocery shopping in the last month, while two-thirds (62%) say they used a food discounter.
“And almost three-quarters (70%) of food discount shoppers say the quality of the products they buy from these stores has improved over the last couple of years.”
Other key findings.
Data from IGD also shows that online is set to remain the fastest-growing channel, as retailers look to drive growth through their larger store and convenience formats.
Denney-Finch said: “Online will remain the fastest-growing channel over the next five years, but we have lowered our forecast for this part of the market from 2016, as many retailers have also started to refocus their efforts on the in-store experience, which will create additional competition for online.”
Looking at main supermarkets and hypermarkets, Denney-Finch commented: “Larger format stores may no longer be the biggest engines of growth in UK grocery, but nevertheless they remain the place where most people shop for food and groceries.
“Nearly every shopper in Britain (98%) claims to use a supermarket or a hypermarket for some of their grocery shopping every month, citing the convenience of having everything under one roof (84%) and wider choice (81%).”
Denney-Finch concluded: “In the future, we will have an even greater choice in what, where and how we buy our food. We’ll be more spontaneous but also better planned. We’ll be experimental, eager for new products and experiences”
To read the full research forecast, click here.
