A boost in private label sales at Tesco has helped maintain positive sales growth for the retailer, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel market share figures.
Tesco stands on 28.2% market share, in the 12 week period to 6 November, followed by Sainsbury's on 16.3%, Asda on 15.5% and Morrisons on 10.5%.
Elsewhere, The Co-Op has 6.4%, Aldi is on 6.1%, Waitrose has 5.3% and Lidl has 4.6%.
As Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research pointed out in its analysis of the figures, 'most of Tesco's share gains were made through its private label products, both at the entry and premium levels. Tesco’s ‘Finest’ range has grown by 6% in the past 12 weeks, notably in crisps, fresh meat and chilled convenience – this will be important if Tesco is to deliver its margin target of 3.5-4.0% by ‘maxing the mix’.'
Barclays also noted that the industry remains in deflationary territory, however 'over the last 12 weeks, food deflation has fallen to -0.5%, from -0.8% last time. This is the lowest rate of deflation since October 2014 and the second month in a row that we have seen a 30bps sequential move – indicating a rapid rate of change'.
"We’re likely to see prices starting to creep up again in December, unless retailers choose Christmas to unleash a new round of price cuts," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.
"Although it's tempting to link any potential price increases to Brexit and the devaluation of sterling, it's worth remembering that deflation has been easing since December last year, well before the referendum."
This is the 28th consecutive period of grocery price deflation in the UK market.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
