28th Jul 2015 08:49
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kantar Worldpanel on Tuesday said total UK grocery sales were higher in the most recent period under review, but said that the sales and market shares of all the big four supermarkets declined as discount challengers Aldi and Lidl continued to outperform.
J Sainsbury PLC leapfrogged Asda Ltd to become the second-largest player by market share.
Kantar said total grocery sales in the 12 weeks to July 19 grew 0.8%, with stronger growth coming for the smaller players in the market. Overall grocery market deflation in the period was 1.6%, compared to the 1.7% deflation reported in the previous month's survey.
Tesco PLC saw its sales in the period fall to GBP7.20 billion from GBP7.25 billion a year earlier, with its market share subsequently falling to 28.5% from 28.9%.
J Sainsbury PLC saw its sales decline by 0.3% in the period to GBP4.16 billion from GBP4.17 billion, but while its market share fell to 16.5% from 16.6% a year earlier, the decline for Asda Ltd, which is owned by US retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc, was even sharper, meaning Sainsbury's has overtaken Asda to hold the second-largest share of the UK grocery market after Tesco.
For Asda, owned by the US's Wal-Mart Stores Inc, sales fell by 2.7% in the period, down to GBP4.15 billion, with its market share dropping to 16.4% from 17.0%.
At WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC, the smallest of the big four supermarkets, sales fell by 0.1% in the period to GBP2.76 billion, with its market share declining to 10.9% from 11%.
The best performances once again came for the smaller players in the market. Discount retailers Aldi and Lidl saw their combined market share rise to 9.6% in the period, up from 8.4%. Aldi sales rose by 17% in the period, while Lidl sales were up 11%.
Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket owned by the John Lewis Partnership, also performed well, with sales rising 3% to GBP1.27 billion and its market share improving to 5.0% from 4.9%.
"The continued slow growth of the overall market can be explained by minimal volume growth and lower like-for-like prices, both as a result of cheaper commodity prices and the fierce competition between supermarkets," said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of consumer and retail insight.
Tesco shares were down 0.6% to 213.01 pence on Tuesday, while Sainsbury's shares were down 0.1% to 259.80p, and Morrisons shares were down 0.4% to 180.70p.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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