The latest grocery market share figures, published today from Kantar, show year-on-year supermarket sales were flat during the 12 weeks to 11 August 2019 as the tough comparisons with 2018’s strong summer continue.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar said,“The memory of last year still looms large for retailers and this summer’s comparatively poor weather, combined with low levels of like-for-like price rises, have made growth hard to find for retailers.
“July’s hottest day on record wasn’t enough to shift the market into growth, but the grocers will have been encouraged by glimpses of better weather during the past four weeks which helped boost sales of summer staples like hayfever remedies, suncare and burgers by 17%, 8% and 5% respectively.”
Lidl’s sales increased by 7.7% and the discounter reached a record market share of 5.9% during the past 12 weeks.
McKevitt added, “Lidl’s raft of new store openings has helped it attract 489,000 additional shoppers this period. Its campaign to encourage people to do their main weekly shop at Lidl is making an impact and the average basket spend is now nearly £19, 3% higher than last year, though still significantly lower than the £22.65 average spend at the big four.
“While best known for its own-label products, branded lines at Lidl grew by 19% this period and now account for 13% of the discounter’s sales with a strong presence for alcohol, toiletries, household products and soft drinks.”
Meanwhile, sales at rival Aldi increased by 6.2%, supported by sales of bakery products, up 11%, and biscuits, up 13%.
McKevitt said, “Nearly half of all households shopped in an Aldi during the past 12 weeks, showing the extent to which the discounter has established itself in our retail landscape – this figure increases even further to 58.4% in the north of England where the retailer is most popular.”
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