Kantar: Grocery market strong ahead of Christmas rush
The Kantar supermarket share index for Ireland's grocery market remains unchanged in the latest 12-week period, although there is, as always, food for thought in the numbers.
Print18 November 2019
Research reveals that all of the major brands experienced growth in the 12-week period ending 3 November. According to Kantar’s latest figures, consumers visited stores a massive 62 more times, and also shopped at four separate retailers – illustrating a willingness to shop around based on need, in order to find the best price and best product. Overall, the market grew by 2.6%.
According to Charlotte Scott, Kantar’s consumer insight director, overall shopper frequency rose by 2.2% in the 12-week period. “This phenomenon is in no small part thanks to the popularity of the discount supermarkets,” Scott say. “Their comparatively smaller product ranges mean shoppers often visit them in conjunction with other stores, where they top up on specific items.”
However, with Halloween now finished, we’re already seeing evidence of people getting in the festive spirit as 6.5% of us have bought a mince pie – worth €383,000 to retailers so far this year.”
Rain fails to dampen shoppers’ mood
While inclement weather can typically dampen moods in the grocery sector, recent rain has failed to make too much of an impact. Charlotte Scott says: “Retailers have responded well to this year’s cold and wet October by pushing additional sales of classic winter warmer categories. Fresh soup grew by 9.9% this period, while hot drinks are up 7.7%. Biscuits also benefited from those additional cups of tea and coffee, growing at 2.9%, with Tesco reaping the most reward from the trend, as biscuit sales at the retailer grew by 10.8%.”
Meanwhile, in the all-important supermarket share index, the positions remain unchanged: Tesco is Ireland’s third most popular chain, with 21.1% of the market. It sits just a nose behind SuperValu at 21.2%, while Dunnes Stores retains the lead it has held for more than a year now, with 22.8%. This is a very strong position for Dunnes as it heads into the festive season – usually a bumper time for the retailer as customers tend to favour more premium offerings at this time of year.
Meanwhile, and not for the first time, Aldi and Lidl enjoyed the fastest growth in the market this period, with sales increasing by 9.6% and 4.9% respectively. According to Kantar, the German retailers have driven sales through branded goods (Aldi) and vegetarian products (Lidl) in that time.
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