British supermarket sales growth slowed over the last month as consumers trimmed spending after their summer holidays, industry data has shown.
Market researcher NIQ said UK supermarket sales rose 4% in the four weeks to September 7, after rising by 5.5% in last month's report.
'This slowdown in growth is likely due to cooler weather and a return to regular routines for shoppers after the summer break,' NIQ said.
Consumer Behaviour
The researcher's data, the most up-to-date snapshot of UK consumer behaviour, showed the online channel's share of supermarket spend increased to 13%, from 12.5% a year ago.
Echoing data from rival market researcher Kantar last week, NIQ said online grocer Ocado was the fastest growing with sales growth of 15.4% over the 12 weeks to Sept. 7. Marks & Spencer was in second place with growth of 12.4%, with discounter Lidl in third with growth of 11.3%.
Market leader Tesco saw sales growth of 5.3%, while No. 2 Sainsbury's saw growth of 5.9%.
No. 3 player Asda was again the laggard with a sales fall of 5.5% and it lost 1.3 percentage points of market share over the year.
Changing Shopping Habits
“September is closely tied to a change in how we shop following ‘back-to-school’, so retailers typically reinvigorate marketing efforts as customers refocus on new routines as we go from Summer to Autumn," Mike Watkins, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
"With some 50% of households saying they are moderately or severely impacted by the increases in cost of living this means retailers will need to be laser-focused in offering products and promotions that inspire customers who are budget-conscious as part of the push for sales growth in Q4”.
Separately on Wednesday, official UK data showed UK inflation stood at an annual rate of 2.2% in August, unchanged from July. Food inflation was 1.3%.
