Shoppers are making more trips to supermarkets, but buying less to offset the soaring costs of food and other grocery items, according to a new study.
Kantar Worldpanel said grocery sales rose by 4.5% in the three months to 4 September compared with a year ago, but prices rose by 5.3% and indicating volumes fell for a third month in a row.
Martin Whittingham, a director at Kantar, said: “Consumers are managing their budgets by making more shopping trips, but buying fewer items on each outing. These changes are at the margin, but illustrate how shoppers are trying to cope with the increasing pressures on their household budget.”
Morrisons and Sainsbury’s were the best performers among the major multiple chains during the quarter, he added. Both grew sales faster than the market overall, at 5.3% and 4.8% respectively. Sainsbury’s now has 16.1% of the grocery market, up from 16% a year earlier, while Morrisons’ share is 11.5%, up from 11.4%.
Tesco’s share slipped down to 30.4% from 30.8%, as it only managed 3% growth, while Asda also saw its share dip from 17.8% to 17.4%.
Aldi sales were up by nearly 26% and its market share jumped from 2.9% to 3.5%, while rival Lidl saw sales climb by 12.6% to give it a 2.5% share.
Waitrose also continued to power ahead with growth of 8.9%, the fifth consecutive period it has grown by between 8% and 9%.
No comments yet