31st Mar 2026 08:00
(Alliance News) - UK grocery sales rose in March on seasonal demand linked to Easter, while price inflation was steady but threatens to accelerate in the months to come due to the Middle East conflict, industry data showed on Tuesday.
According to Worldpanel by Numerator, grocery sales increased 4.4% in the four weeks to March 22 compared with the same period a year earlier.
Like-for-like annual grocery price inflation rate was 4.3%, where it stood in February, as concerns grow over the potential impact of the Middle East conflict on household costs.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel by Numerator, said financial pressures on UK consumers were already elevated before the conflict began.
"Financial anxiety among British consumers was already running high before the conflict began. And with grocery inflation likely to increase and fuel costs rising sharply, the conditions that make shoppers feel vulnerable are only intensifying," he said.
Worldpanel noted that more than 20% of Britons had already described themselves as financially struggling earlier this year, while over 60% were concerned about rising grocery prices. Each additional 1 percentage point increase in inflation could add more than GBP50 to the average annual supermarket bill, it said.
With Easter approaching, seasonal purchases supported sales over the four-week period. Over 40% of shoppers bought at least one pack of hot cross buns in the past four weeks, while around 30% purchased at least one Easter egg.
Chocolate price inflation eased slightly to 8.0% from 9.3% the previous month, but the average price of an Easter egg still rose 9% year-on-year to GBP3.27.
Despite higher prices, there was little evidence of consumers trading down to smaller products, with the average Easter egg weight broadly unchanged at 162 grams.
During the 12-weeks to March 22, total grocery sales rose 3.9% annually to GBP35.61 billion.
Discounter Lidl recorded the largest market share stride over the 12 weeks, rising by 0.5 percentage points on-year to 8.3%. Sales were up 9.6% on a year earlier.
Ocado Retail, a joint venture of Ocado Group PLC and Marks & Spencer Group PLC, recorded the strongest growth, with sales increasing over 12% and market share rising to 2.2% from 2.0% a year earlier.
J Sainsbury PLC attracted the most new customers, Worldpanel data showed, adding 387,000 households and posting annual sales growth of 5.5%, lifting its market share to 15.6% from 15.3%.
Market leader Tesco PLC saw sales rise 5.0% on-year, with its share increasing to 28.0% from 27.7%.
Sales at Aldi and Morrisons both grew 2.3%, with market shares of 10.6% and 8.3%, falling from 10.8% and 8.4%, respectively.
Asda held an 11.6% share, fading from 12.1%, with sales down 0.9%, although this marked its strongest performance since April 2024.
Waitrose recorded 5.8% sales growth, its fastest in five years, increasing its market share to 4.7% from 4.6%. Co-op held a 5.1% share, down from 5.4%, while Iceland accounted for 2.3% of the market, edging down from 2.4%.
Separately, grocery sales at Marks & Spencer Group rose 9.5% over the 12-week period, although the retailer is not classified as a grocer under the Worldpanel methodology due to the higher proportion of clothing and general merchandise in its sales mix.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Sainsbury'sTescoOcadoMarks & Spencer