The introduction of a number of 'circuit break' lockdowns across the UK has led to spikes in grocery shopping in some regions, new data from Kantar has revealed.
Over the 12-week period to 1 November, grocery sales rose by 9.3%, according to Kantar, and by 9.4% over the most recent four weeks.
However, tighter restrictions in Wales meant that growth rates peaked at 15% in the month to 1 November, with the region also reporting its highest ever online grocery growth rate.
Early evidence also suggests that shoppers in England – which introduced a lockdown on 5 November – are also confident about being able to shop for their essentials, without the need to stockpile, Kantar said.
No Panic Buying
“While there was some uplift in Wales, the increased spending did not provide any evidence of stockpiling, and initial figures suggest no sign of panic buying in England either," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
"But one thing is always front of mind at this time of year – Christmas – and it seems many people sought to get ahead with gift buying before stores closed. Between Monday-Wednesday last week, the three days before additional nationwide restrictions were introduced in England, toy and entertainment stores took more than double their share of pre-COVID footfall, and shoppers rushed to gift shops and fashion retailers.”
In terms of the performance of the UK's largest grocers, market leader Tesco saw sales rise by 9.1%, with Sainsbury's up 7.6%, Asda rising by 5.0%, and Morrisons reporting double digit growth of 11.4%.
Ocado was once again the UK's best-performing grocer, with sales growth of 36.1%, while there were also impressive gains for Iceland (up 17.9%), Lidl (up 12.5%) and Waitrose (up 10.6%).
Frozen Boost
According to Kantar, Iceland's performance has been boosted by increased consumer adoption of frozen foods, due to fears over increased lockdown measures.
“Frozen food has been a hot ticket since the beginning of the pandemic, and sales have risen by 14% in the latest 12 weeks," said McKevitt. "That follows a spike in sales of fridge freezers over the summer, showing the desire for long-lasting provisions in the current climate. Iceland has benefited the most from the trend, helping to grow its market share to 2.3%, from 2.1% last year."
Elsewhere, Kantar reported that premium private label products have seen a spike in growth (+£56 million), which could indicate a bumper Christmas ahead for supermarket own brands.
Morrisons in particular was boosted by its The Best premium private label range, which saw growth of 42% in the period.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
