Retail sales in Ireland received a boost during the St Patrick’s Day weekend, following increased sales of Irish breakfast staples and alcohol, according to latest data from Kantar.
Nearly two thirds of shoppers bought fresh sausages, bacon rashers, or black and white pudding, driven by promotional campaigns offered by mainstream retailers.
Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar, said that sales of beer, lager and cider peaked in the week to 17 March.
“This helped overall sales for the month to 24 March eclipse the €25 million mark,” Faughnan added.
Overall, the Irish grocery market grew by 3.2% in the 12 weeks to 24 March.
A late Easter marginally slowed down sales, when compared with the data from the previous year, the data revealed.
'A Bumper Period'
Faughnan feels, “Spring 2019 could be a bumper period for the Irish grocery market.
“The late Easter hasn’t stopped retailers promoting seasonal favourites – the holiday weekend is still two weeks away – but already over half of the Irish households have stocked up on Easter Eggs,” he explained.
“So far, the grocers have been focusing their efforts on multibuy offers, to encourage shoppers to splash out a little earlier than they usually would.
“This has proven successful to date. Over €15 million has been spent on Easter eggs in 2019, and 41% of these have been bought as part of a deal,” Faughnan furthered.
Dunnes Retains Top Spot
Dunnes Stores has retained its spot as the country’s largest retailer for the seventh consecutive period.
Growth was mainly driven by private-label sales, which have risen by 9.2% over the past 12 weeks.
Faughnan commented, “Dunnes’ current run, in pole position, beats the five consecutive periods in which the retailer topped the charts between November and February last year.
“This goes to show that its appeal to shoppers is broadening beyond the key Christmas period, when it has historically performed strongest,” he added.
Other Players
Aldi emerged as Ireland's fastest-growing supermarket, with a market share of 12.1%.
Sales in Lidl rose by 6.2%, and the retailer recorded a market share of 11.8% – the highest since August 2018.
Tesco recorded growth of 0.6%, driven by a strong performance in fresh produce, with fruit and vegetable sales up by 5.5% and 4.4%, respectively.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
