UK supermarkets have seen two consecutive months of value and volume sales growth for the first time in two years, according to Nielsen data published this week.
The data shows that for the four weeks ending 10 September 2016, the value of sales was up 0.4% compared to the same period a year ago, whilst sales volumes increased 0.3%.
Tesco was the best performing mainstream grocer in the four-week period, with its sales for the 12 weeks ending 10 September down -0.2% compared to last year. Sainsburys was down 1.4%, while Asda was down 5.4%.
Contrasting to this, Aldi was up 15.5% in the period, while Lidl rose by 7.3%.
“With both value and volume growth most weeks since the middle of July we’re seeing the green shoots of recovery for the leading supermarkets in their battle against the discounters and price deflation," commented Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
© 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.
