All major players in the UK supermarket sector have seen sales soar in the 12 week period to 22 March, according to the latest Kantar market share figures, with discounter Lidl seeing sales rise by an impressive 17.6%.
The discounter now sits on 6.1% market share for the period, 50 basis points higher than at the same period last year.
Rival Aldi saw sales rise 11.0% meanwhile, putting it on a new record high market share of 8.2%, according to the data.
The Big Four
While the UK's 'Big Four' retailers have found the going tough in recent months, the growing coronavirus epidemic has led to shoppers returning to the aisles en masse to stock up on essentials.
Market leader Tesco, which holds 26.8% of the market, posted a 5.5% sales increase, while Sainsbury's (15.3%) saw sales up 7.4%.
Third-placed Asda (15.0% share) saw sales rise 4.9%, meanwhile, with Morrisons (10.0% share) seeing a 4.6% increase.
Other retailers to post a double-digit sales increase include Ocado (1.5% market share), which posted an impressive 12.5% increase as shoppers turned to online channels amidst fears of a potential lockdown.
Iceland (2.2% market share), too, benefited from shoppers stocking up on frozen products, with the retailer seeing sales rise by 11.7%.
Additional Spend
As Kantar's Fraser McKevitt observed, the average household spent an additional £62.92 in the past four weeks, which is equivalent to an additional five days' worth of groceries.
“It’s inevitable that shoppers will add extra items to their baskets when faced with restrictions on their movement and possible isolation if one of them becomes unwell, but many families are also adjusting to having more mouths to feed," he said.
"Those with children over the age of 16 spent £508 this month on average, £88.13 more than they did in March 2019 – a trend that likely reflects students returning home from college and university. "
On the performance of the UK's leading retailers, McKevitt added, “Most of us still relied on the full-size, bricks-and-mortar stores operated by Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl. They took 76% of spend through their tills in the past four weeks, with sales 19% higher than March 2019.”
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
