Kantar has released its latest data for the four weeks to 3rd September 2023, highlighting discounter market gains and consumer concerns despite a continuous drop in grocery price inflation.

The new data shows that grocery price inflation has dropped to its lowest level in over 12 months, sitting at 12.2% for the four weeks to 3rd September 2023. Compared to the same period in 2022, grocer take-home sales were up 7.4%, a 0.9% increase from the previous four week period.

Despite the decrease in the rate of inflation, 95% of consumers still expressed concerns regarding the impact of rising grocery prices.

Of the ‘traditional’ retailers, Sainsbury’s and Tesco were the fastest growing, with sales rising by 9.1% and 9.3% respectively. Tesco’s share of the grocery market now sits at 27.2% (up 0.3% from the same period in 2022) and Sainsbury’s stands at 14.8% (up 0.2%).

Asda now boasts a market share of 13.8% as Morrisons holds 8.6%, with sales up by 5.1% and 2% respectively. Waitrose saw its growth accelerating to 5.6% as the retailer now holds 4.6% of the market.

Ocado sales grew 4.3% in the four weeks to 3rd September, with its market share reaching 1.6%. Co-op sales were up 2.5% year-on-year (YoY) as the convenience retailer saw a market share of 6.1%, and Iceland sales rose by 4.3% to take a share of 2.3%.

Discounters make large market share gains

According to the Kantar data, it is now one year since Aldi became the fourth largest supermarket in Britain. Both Aldi and Lidl have made some of the biggest market share gains over the past 12 months, demonstrating that consumers remain on the hunt for lower prices.

Aldi sales grew by 17.1% as Lidl sales grew by 16%, with the discounters accounting for 17.7% of sector sales. Kantar states that it expects this performance to continue due to inflation remaining high, but it is to be noted that the discounters have experienced slower growth rates as they compete with their rapid 2022 sales increases.

Own brand lines saw a sales increase of 9.9% in the last month, with supermarket own labels accounting for over half of the average shopper’s basket. This is up from 48% in August 2013, and is equivalent to a £3 billion shift in sales away from branded products.

Compared to 10 years ago, only 26% of spending is on deals rather than the 2013 rate of 38%, showing that customers in 2023 are more interested in seeing everyday low value rather than promotional sales.