23rd Jun 2020 08:32
(Alliance News) - A boost in demand for picnic items lifted UK grocery sales, data from Kantar showed on Tuesday, with Ocado PLC surging to its highest ever market share.
Grocery sales rose 14% year-on-year to GBP31.27 billion in the 12 weeks to June 14, from GBP27.49 billion.
Kantar noted that there were signs of a "gradual return to normality", though spending habits "remain a world away from what retailers would usually expect".
Kantar's Head of Retail & Consumer Insight Fraser McKevitt said: "The boost has been led by online sales, which have continued to accelerate, and convenience stores, which took GBP1.6 billion through their tills during this period. Despite the jump, grocers are still navigating a steep drop in the amount of food and drink bought on the go, which was down by a third in early June."
Online sales surged 91% over the final four weeks of the period, Kantar noted.
The easing of the UK lockdown and expectations of better weather also lifted sales, numbers showed. Soft drinks sales surged 28%, chilled dips jumped 30% and ice cream sales soared 57%. Recently, people in the UK have been allowed to meet up in small, socially-distanced groups at outdoor locations such as parks and back gardens.
Alcohol sales meanwhile continued to climb as pubs remain closed. In the recent four weeks, they were 43% higher annually.
Among the London-listed retailers, Ocado achieved a market share of 1.7%, its best ever in Kantar survey history. The online-only grocer, benefiting from consumers doing their shopping from home, saw sales jump 42% year-on-year during the 12 weeks to GBP520 million.
Among the "Big Four" UK grocers, Tesco PLC's market share dipped to 26.9% from 27.3%. This was despite sales rising 12% annually to GBP8.41 billion.
J Sainsbury PLC's market share also slipped, to 14.9% from 15.3%, but it similarly booked a double-digit annual sales rise. Sales were up 10% to GBP4.65 billion.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC's sales rose 10% as well, to GBP3.17 billion, and its market share fell to 10.1% from 10.4%.
At Walmart Inc-owned Asda, market share slumped to 13.9% from 14.9%, but sales climbed 6.3% year-on-year to GBP4.36 billion.
In terms of market share, it wasn't the best 12 weeks for the German discounters. Lidl's share of the market crept up to 5.8% from 5.7%, but Aldi's slipped to 7.5% to 7.9%. Aldi's sales were 8.0% higher at GBP2.35 billion and Lidl's surged 14% to GBP1.80 billion.
Outside of Ocado, Co-Operative posted the largest sales rise, jumping 35% to GBP2.31 billion, and market share rallied to 7.4% from 6.2%.
Iceland also booked a large sales rise of 31% to GBP776 million and market share came in at 2.5%, up from 2.1% in the year prior.
Annual grocery price inflation meanwhile, Kantar noted, stood at 4.0%.
McKevitt added: "We're still shopping less frequently but shoppers are gradually changing their behaviour. Households made 77 million fewer trips to the grocers in the latest four weeks compared with last year, but that’s still 19 million more than in May, reflecting the slight easing of government restrictions. Once in the shops, customers are continuing to buy more than usual, spending 42% more per trip than in June last year at GBP26.37 on average."
In London on Friday morning, Ocado shares were 3.4% lower, Tesco was down 0.6%, and Sainsbury's was down 1.4%, but Morrison's was up 0.5%.
By Eric Cunha; [email protected]
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