British shoppers, affected by the Siberian-like weather that hit the country in late February/early March, visited stores less often during the winter storms, but spent more when they got there, particularly on alcohol and frozen products.
According to Nielsen data for the four weeks to 24 March, the amount of items UK shoppers bought during the period rose by 0.4% year-on-year, which is the second-highest increase since 2016 (excluding seasonally-affected periods).
If inflation is included, shoppers spent 3.3% more on groceries compared to the same period last year, or 2.6% more if the discounters are excluded.
The best-performing categories for the four-week period were beers, wines and spirits, which saw a year-on-year increase of 7%, frozen foods, which saw a 5% increase, and packaged groceries, which were up 4% - all categories that enjoyed a boost from consumers 'stocking up' in advance of the storms.
Fresh produce sales, however, fell by 2%.
The shopping surge was also seen across the Irish Sea, as Irish shoppers cleared shelves of bread products in advance of the storms.
Disruption
“The winter weather in late February and early March certainly disrupted shopping patterns but not enough to knock food retail out of its stride,” commented Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer insight.
“This is built on the 'big four' supermarkets having adapted well to changing market conditions and consumer behaviour, and the sector has effectively seen 13 straight months of growth above 2%. This is in stark contrast to non-food retail, which is still adapting to a changing marketplace.”
During the week of the storms, grocery sales in the UK fell 1%, Nielsen found, however they rallied by 12% the week after (week ending 10 March); a week that included Mother's Day.
Food Price Inflation
Last week, the British Retail Consortium held out an olive branch for UK consumers when it revealed that food price inflation fell to a 12-month low in March, standing at 0.4%.
This is down from 1.6% in February, and marks the lowest food inflation rate since February 2017.
Fresh food inflation slowed to the lowest rate since March 2017, at 0.3%, compared to 0.9% in February.
"Some welcome respite for consumers, particularly with the gap between inflation and wage growth finally narrowing," Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, British Retail Consortium.
"But with further wage increases on the horizon putting upward pressure on prices, consumers will continue to feel the grip on their spending power."
© 2018 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.
