Figures obtained by Kantar Worldplanel have revealed that strong Easter sales for the 12 weeks ending 23rd April have helped the grocery sector increase by 3.7%, marking the fastest rate since September 2013.
According to Kantar’s report, the growth is worth almost £1 billion in additional sales, as all ten major retailers are increasing gains for the first time in three-and-a-half years.
More specifically, Morrisons’ growth in own-label sales helped it become the fastest growing ‘Big Four’ retailer, with its ‘The Best’ line performing well, following last year’s launch.
Sainsbury’s sales increased by 1.7%, the biggest boost it has seen since June 2014, with growth coming from all of its three channels, local convenience stores, larger supermarkets and online.
Asda has also enjoyed increased year-on-year sales for the first time since October 2014, following a strong performance online and the addition of another quarter of a million shoppers.
In addition, Tesco returned to growth with sales marking a 1.9% increase, while own-label sales were also lifted by 6% across all price tiers.
However, all ‘Big Four’ retailers experienced drops in market share, with Morrisons marking the lowest, at 10.4%, after slipping 0.2%.
Sainsbury’s’ market share fell to 16.1% in the past 12 weeks, while Asda’s overall share fell by 0.4% to 15.6% and Tesco landed at 27.5% of the market share, taking a hit of 0.5%.
Iceland, Aldi and Lidl saw their sales rise by 9.3%, 18.3% and 17.8% respectively, placing them ahead of the market during the recorded period.
Aldi and Lidl achieved new record-high market shares of 6.9% and 5.0% respectively, while Waitrose’s share was stable at 5.2%, despite a recorded 3.1% increase in sales.
At Co-op, sales rose by 2.6%, with market share falling by 0.1% to 6.1%, while Ocado doubled its market share since late 2014 and is now accounting for 1.3% of supermarket sales.
Kantar Worldpanel’s head of retailer and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, commented: “While prices do look set to rise further, the current inflation rate of 2.6% is still below the average level experienced by shoppers between 2010 and 2014.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
