Market research firm Kantar has revealed its supermarket share update, reporting slow grocery sales growth as the weather remained poor.
Kantar found that the grocery price inflation rate dropped to 2.1%, marking the sixteenth consecutive month that it has fallen. The firm also reported that 36% of households described their financial position as comfortable in May 2024, a proportion not surpassed since November 2021.
Take-home grocery sales rose by 1% over the four weeks to 9th June 2024, which Kantar said marked the slowest increase since June 2022 as “poor weather and falling inflation impacted the sector”. Growth in footfall stalled, with the average shopper visiting a supermarket 16.3 times this month – down from 16.4 in June last year.
Retailer sales increase
Ocado was the fastest growing grocer for the fourth month in a row this period, increasing sales by 10.7% over the 12 weeks to 9th June – ahead of the total online market, which saw sales rise by 4%. Kantar stated that nearly a quarter (23%) of British households did their grocery shopping online in the last three months, with over 4% choosing to use Ocado. The online-only retailer now accounts for 1.8% of the market, up 0.1% from last year.
Lidl reportedly increased its market share by 0.4% to 8.1%, matching its sales growth for the latest 12 weeks. Fellow discounter Aldi, the fourth largest retailer by consumer spend, boosted sales by 0.8% and now has a share of 10%.
Tesco achieved its highest market share since February 2022, growing 0.6% to 27.7% and pushing up sales by 4.6%. Sainsbury’s saw its sales rise by 4.9% to account for 15.2% of the market, up from 14.9% last year.
As Morrisons celebrates its 125th anniversary, the grocer’s sales rose by 1.1%. Its share now stands at 8.7%, while Iceland boosted its sales by 4.4% to hold 2.4% of the market, up from 2.3% a year ago. This marks the first annual market share increase for the frozen food retailer since March 2023.
Waitrose welcomed 188,000 new shoppers through its doors over the latest 12 weeks, a greater increase than any other grocer. With its sales growing by 3.5%, the retailer has a 4.5% share, while Asda and convenience retailer Co-op captured 12.8% and 5.5% of the grocery market respectively.
Wet weather “dampens spirits” and spending
Fraser McKevitt. head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “The sixth wettest spring on record hasn’t just dampened our spirits leading into summer, it’s made a mark on the grocery sector too as it seems Britons are being put off from popping to the shops. We’re not yet reaching for those typical summertime products and are making some purchases you wouldn’t expect in June.”
McKevitt highlighted that sales of prepared salads had dipped by 11%, while fresh soup sales had jumped by almost 24%.
He continued: “The cost-of-living ‘crisis’ isn’t over – far from it. 22% of households say they’re struggling, meaning that they aren’t able to cover their expenses or are just making ends meet. However, there are positive signs that many of us no longer feel the need to restrict our spending quite so much, with lower inflation helping to ease the pressure on people’s pockets.
“In May, we recorded the largest jump in the number of comfortable households since January 2023, rising by two percentage points on February 2024’s figure. Costs are falling in nearly one third of the grocery categories we track, including toilet tissues, butter and milk. That’s a big increase from last year, when just 1% of markets were declining.”
