18th Aug 2026 08:01
(Alliance News) - UK grocery price inflation in recent weeks decelerated notably, as Lidl once again overtook Morrisons in market share, numbers on Tuesday showed.
Data from Worldpanel by Numerator showed like-for-like grocery price inflation decelerated to 2.1% for the four weeks to August 9, the mildest figure since October 2024. In the four weeks to July 12, the rate of inflation was 2.6%.
Worldpanel noted that during a heatwave, shoppers reached for summer staples, with sales of dips and coleslaw both jumping 23%, while potato salad sales were 22% higher.
Notably, sun cream sales surged 58%, while ice cream and sorbet sales were up 26% on-year. Frozen fruit sales were 48% higher, which far outpaced the fresh fruit category.
"With inflation slowing again, this marks the fifth consecutive month of easing prices. Shoppers are feeling the relief with 39% now feeling financially comfortable, marking the highest level of financial confidence since November 2021. But it's by no means the same picture for all, with 20% reporting that they are struggling, and this has a clear impact on spending decisions. Among these households, 30% are more likely to prioritise grocery essentials over additional summer spending such as holidays and travel," Worldpanel Business unit Director Sally Ball said.
The fastest-growing grocer was Ocado Retail, the joint venture between Ocado PLC and Marks & Spencer Group PLC, while Tesco PLC lost market share when compared to a year ago. Elsewhere, Asda lost ground and Aldi remained in fourth place.
Morrisons, which cut almost 5,000 jobs last year as part of efforts to shore up its finances, saw sales and its market share tick up a notch.
Total UK grocery sales in the 12 weeks to August 9 rose 2.7% on-year to GBP36.55 billion from GBP35.58 billion.
Tesco's sales improved 1.8% to GBP10.17 billion, for a market share of 27.8%, falling from 28.1% a year earlier. J Sainsbury PLC's market share was up mildly at 15.2% from 15.1%, with sales climbing 3.5% to GBP5.55 billion.
Ocado sales surged 13% to GBP780 million. The online-only grocer now has a 2.1% market share, up from 1.9% a year earlier.
Asda's market share slimmed to 11.5% from 11.9%, as sales fell 0.2% to GBP4.21 billion from GBP4.22 billion.
Aldi's market share over the 12-week survey fell to 10.7% from 10.9%, while sales rose 1.1%. It remains ahead of Morrisons, one of the traditional 'big four', which slipped into sixth place as Lidl overtook it.
Lidl's market share surged to 8.8%, racing past Morrisons, and up from 8.3% a year earlier, as sales jumped 8.5%.
Morrisons has a market share of 8.5%, up from 8.4%, with sales up 3.3%.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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