Sales growth at Aldi and Lidl accelerated over the last three months, with almost 10 pence in every pound spent in UK supermarkets now going through the tills of the German discounters.
Aldi’s sales rose 18 per cent and Lidl’s 13 per cent in the 12 weeks ended 16 August, researcher Kantar Worldpanel revealed in its recent monthly report. Asda was the biggest loser, with a 2.5-per-cent drop in revenue.
The defection of shoppers towards the discounters has led to more than a year of falling grocery prices in the UK, as bigger supermarkets have fought to retain customers.
At a press conference last week, Asda chief executive officer Andy Clarke said that the grocer’s sales had hit their nadir and that he saw some evidence of “green shoots” of recovery.
Sales at Tesco dropped 0.9 per cent from a year earlier in the 12 weeks ended 16 August, with lower revenue in larger stores offsetting 'buoyant' growth in convenience stores and online, according to Kantar. Sainsbury's was the best performer of the UK’s largest supermarket operators, with sales growing 0.1 per cent.
In addition to the discounters, UK supermarkets also lost sales to upscale grocer Waitrose. A promotion that allowed Waitrose customers to pick ten products on which to receive a 20-per-cent discount helped its sales rise 3.7 per cent, Kantar revealed.
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