Return to growth for the grocery market
Print12 May 2014
The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 27 April, show the Irish grocery market returning to growth for the first time in six months.
David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: "During the recession shoppers turned to ‘little and often’ shopping to control their spending, but this trend is now showing signs of reversing. The latest figures show consumers making slightly fewer shopping trips but buying more groceries each time. This means bigger baskets and an increase overall of the volume of goods purchased, which has provided an €18 million boost in grocery sales in this 12 week period.
"Aldi continues to be the strongest performing retailer, with a 22% increase in sales lifting its share of the market to a new record level of 8.0%. The reason for its success is in line with the overall market, with shoppers buying more items and spending more each time they visit an Aldi store. Lidl has also posted double digit sales growth, boosting its market share from 6.9% last year to 7.6%."
SuperValu is the only other retailer to have grown sales this period, having attracted an additional 18,000 shoppers through its doors this year. While Tesco’s performance remains behind the market, there are signs that this is beginning to stabilise with a 4.2% decline in sales – the lowest fall since July 2013. Dunnes has convinced its shoppers to increase spending this year, but it must reverse its loss of shoppers to the other grocers in order to overturn a 1.3% drop in sales this period.
Welcoming the figures, Rob Farrell, Aldi’s group buying director said: "We are delighted that more and more Irish consumers are making Aldi their weekly supermarket of choice. We have invested heavily in our product range, and particularly in our Irish sourced products, to provide groceries that exceed the high quality standards demanded by Irish consumers. For example, today we launched our New Season Irish Spring Lamb range, supplied by Irish Country Meats, which delivers on taste and value."
Martin Kelleher, managing director SuperValu said: "The latest Kantar research highlights how the grocery sector benefited due to Easter, with the market returning to growth. SuperValu was the only supermarket, outside the discounters, to increase sales over the period, reflecting the momentum behind the brand."
"It is notable that SuperValu was also named as the most reputable Irish brand according to latest RepTrak study last week. This research and the latest market share figures underline the fact that our customers choose to shop with us because of our unique combination of value, fresh food leadership and our commitment to Irish suppliers and local communities across the country."
"We aim to continue to drive competition by driving down the average cost of the grocery basket, with consumers switching to the SuperValu own-brand range. As a result, we expect to see more deflation in the market, but we will continue to drive footfall to our stores as part of our long term growth strategy."
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