Grocery sales in Ireland increased by 10.8% in the four weeks to 11 June as the average price per pack increased by 14.1%, according to the latest data from Kantar.
Shoppers returned to stores more often in June (+9.2%) compared to last year, making an average of two additional trips, down slightly compared with May, the data showed.
Grocery inflation rose by 15.8% in the 12 weeks to 11 June, which is down on last month’s level of 16.5% and is the lowest level of inflation seen so far this year, Kantar noted.
Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar added, "This latest drop in grocery price inflation will be very welcome news for consumers, although it is too soon to say if this is the ceiling, as inflation rates are still much higher than we have previously seen.”
Consumer Trends
Over the 12 weeks to 11 June, take-home grocery sales increased by 11% as consumers turned to shop little and often to help manage household budgets.
The percentage of packs sold on promotion increased to 25.8%, compared to 24.7% last year.
Shoppers spent an additional €2.9 million on beer and lager, €1.9 million on chilled burgers and grills, and €1.2 million on fresh sausages as they enjoyed the long summer days in the latest four week period.
Sales of chilled ready meals shot up by 20%, with shoppers spending an additional €2.9 million year-on-year in the category.
Other Trends
Sales of private-label goods grew by 15% in this period, which was almost double that of branded product sales (7.8%).
Value own-label goods saw growth of 28.9% year-on-year, with shoppers spending €15.7 million more on these ranges.
Online sales increased 2.2%, as shoppers spent an additional €3.5 million on e-commerce platforms year-on-year.
New shoppers boosted overall growth by €6 million, while close to 17% of Irish households purchased products online, the data showed.
Top Retailers
Dunnes Stores retained its position as Ireland's top retailer, with a market share of 22.9% and growth of 15% year-on-year. The retailer attributed its growth to shoppers returning to the store more often and the addition of new customers.
Tesco placed second with a market share of 22.6% and 13.5% year-on-year growth. The retailer also witnessed the strongest frequency of growth amongst all retailers (+17.7% year-on-year), contributing an additional €103.6 million to its overall performance.
SuperValu saw growth of 6%, and its market share stood at 20.7%. At an average of 24 trips, SuperValu shoppers made the most number of trips to stores, compared to other retailers.
Lidl hit a record new market share of 13.7%, with growth of 15.5% year on year, the data showed. More frequent trips and new shoppers contributed an additional €45.2 million to the retailer’s overall performance.
Aldi's market share stood at 12.3%, with a boost in new shoppers and more frequent trips contributing an additional €49 million to its overall performance.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-Brands news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
