4th May 2016 07:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sales fell for all four of the big supermarkets in the UK, the latest set of grocery data released by Kantar Worldpanel showed on Wednesday, the first time all four have seen sales fall for a year.
In the 12 weeks ended April 24, UK supermarket sales increased by only 0.1% year-on-year, slowing down from the 1.1% growth reported in April which had been boosted by an earlier Easter.
J Sainsbury PLC posted the lowest sales fall out of the big four grocers, although this is the first time the retailer has dipped into decline since July last year. In the 12 weeks, Sainsbury's sales fell by 0.4%, but its market share remained flat at 16.5%.
Tesco PLC saw sales fall 1.3%, as its market share also slipped to 28.0% from 28.4%. Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC sales fell 2.6%, as its market share slipped to 10.6% from 10.9%.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc-owned Asda Ltd was the worst performer among the big players, with sales down 5.1% while its market share fell to 16.0% from 16.9%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight, said this marks the first time that each of the big four has simultaneously witnessed a drop in sales since April 2015.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl, meanwhile, continued to achieve good sales growth. Aldi's sales grew by 12.5% and Lidl's sales were up by 15.4%. Together, their combined market share increased to 10.4% from 9.2%.
Upmarket grocer Waitrose also saw its sales rise by 1.5%, as its market share increased slightly to 5.2% from 5.1%, while The Co-operative achieved 3.3% sales growth and its market share rose to 6.2% from 6%.
Grocery deflation now stands at 1.5%, meaning shoppers are now paying less for a representative basket of groceries than they did in 2015. This is the 21st consecutive period of grocery price deflation, with falling prices reflecting the impact of Aldi and Lidl and the market's competitive response, as well as deflation in some major categories such as fresh and processed pork, butter, and crisps.
Shares in Sainsbury's were trading down 1.4% at 281.70 pence on Wednesday morning, while Tesco shares were down 1.0% at 167.50p and Morrisons shares were down 2.6% at 186.00p.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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