Market research firm Kantar has published its supermarket share and inflation update for the four weeks to 26th January, reporting a rise in take-home grocery sales.
Grocery inflation stood at 3.3% for the four-week period ending 26th January 2024, and take-home sales at the grocers rose by 4.3%.
The firm also noted that demand for protein products such as bars and bites was high, as sales for this category at supermarkets were 47% higher than last year, with more than two million households buying these items during the month.
“People turned to non-branded products to help keep costs down.”
Fraser McKevitt, Kantar
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Supermarkets were dishing out the discounts this New Year, and consumers responded. Spending on promotions rose year-on-year by £274 million, accounting for 27.2% of sales - the highest level in January since 2021.
“People also turned to non-branded products to help keep costs down, with own label as a proportion of sales hitting a record high of 52.3% in January. Spending on supermarkets’ own lines was up 5.4%, helped by consumers buying premium own label products in the couple of days leading up to New Year’s Eve.”
Retailers experience sales growth
Discounter Lidl saw sales rise 7.4% over the 12 weeks to 26th January, hitting three continual years of growth as its share hit 7.2%. Aldi sales increased to 4.2% for the third consecutive month, and its market share increased to 10.2%.
Online retailer Ocado was the fastest-growing grocer for the ninth consecutive month, as spending grew by 11.3% for the retailer to hold 1.9% of the market. M&S also saw a strong 12-week period of growth with grocery sales increasing by 10.5% in its stores.
Tesco gained the most market share, with its 28.5% hold of the market 0.7% higher than the same time last year. It also saw the fastest rise in sales since April 2024 at 5.6%.
Morrisons had an 8.6% market share, while Asda’s market share was 12.6%. Sainsbury’s “outpaced the market” at 4.2% sales growth, increasing its share from 15.7% to 15.9%.
Waitrose maintained a share of 4.6%, as sales increased by 3%, and frozen food retailer Iceland was 1% higher, maintaining its share of 2.4%.
Convenience retailer Co-op returned to growth, with sales rising by 0.8% to give it a 5.2% share of the market.
