Rebecca Daley / Alyona Levitin
Camargue
+44 (0)20 7636 7366
7 January 2017
Aldi becomes UK’s fifth largest grocer
The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 29 January 2017, show Aldi is now Britain’s fifth largest supermarket. With sales up 12.4% year on year, the retailer increased its market share by 0.6 percentage points to clinch fifth place for the first time.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Just a decade ago Aldi was the UK’s tenth largest food retailer, accounting for less than 2% of the grocery market. Since then the grocer has grown rapidly, climbing the rankings by an impressive five places to hold a6.2% market share. Underpinned by an extensive programme of store openings, the past quarter has seen Aldi attract 826,000 more shoppers than during the same period last year.
“Despite being overtaken by Aldi,Co-op’s 2% sales increase was well ahead of the market, continuing a run of growth stretching back to July 2015. A significantown label sales increase of 7% was behind the strong performance, with healthier ranges successfully catering to consumers’ good intentions for the new year.
“Not all shoppers were convinced by the health message though: while overall sales of healthy own label lines increased by 3%, a dry January was certainly not on the cards for many of us – sales of beer increased by 4% over the past 12 weeks, with wine up by1% over the same period.”
The market continues to grow faster than it did in 2016, with supermarket sales up 1.7% on last year: eight of the nine major retailers saw positive sales growth during the past 12 weeks. Although not significant enough to dampen the market, well-publicised supply issuesover the past few weeks have affected sales in fresh produce. Fraser McKevitt comments: “11 million households buy courgettes annually, but supply issues contributed to 759,000 fewer shoppersbuyingthemthis January – that’s a 31% drop in spending compared with the same month last year. Sales of spinach also fell by 12%, in a clear sign that the poor weather in southern Europe has had a tangible impact on British shopping baskets.”
“Meanwhile rising prices – which we saw at Christmas for the first time since 2014 – have continued into the new year, with like-for-like inflation on a basket of everyday groceries climbing to 0.7%. If prices continue to rise at the same rate for the rest of 2017, shoppers will find themselves around £27 worse off.”
Morrisons was the fastest-growing retailer within the big four, increasing its market share for the first time since June 2015 with a sales uplift of1.9%year on year. Although growth came from across the store, premium own label was a real bright spot – sales were up by 35%, whileits revamped The Best range made its way into 14% of Morrisons baskets.
Growing for the fifth period in a row – albeit at a slower rate than previously – Tesco’s sales were up 0.3% year on year as its market share fell to 28.1%. Sainsbury’s sales remained flat, while its share fell by 0.3percentage points to stand at 16.5%.
Meanwhile Asda’s 1.9% fall in sales signalled a decline which continues to slow. Although its share dropped by 0.6 percentage points over the quarter, the retailer did manage to increase the number of shoppers visiting its stores compared to the same period last year.
Elsewhere, Waitrose, Lidl and Iceland all continued to grow. Boosting sales by 3.4%, Waitrose increased its share of the grocery market to 5.3%, while Iceland – up 8.6% year on year– saw sales growth for the tenth consecutive period. A 9.4% year on year sales increase for Lidl buoyed the retailer’s market share by 0.3 percentage points, leaving the discounter holding 4.5% of the UK grocery market.
Ends
An update on inflation
Grocery inflation now stands at +0.7%* for the 12 week period ending 29 January 2017. Prices have been rising since the 12 weeks to 1 January 2017, following a period of grocery price deflation which ran for 30 consecutive periods from September 2014 to December 2016. Rising prices in markets such as butter, fish and tea have been offset by falling prices in categories including eggs, bacon and washing up products.
*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.
Kantar Worldpanel’s data visualisation tool allows you to view and analyse Grocery Market Share data online. The latest sales share figures for all of the major grocers can be viewed and compared with historical figures here and all graphics within the Kantar Worldpanel dataviz are available to embed in your site.
(Optimal viewing in recent versions of Internet Explorer or Chrome)
Follow us on Twitter at and join the debate #GroceryMarketShare.
Notes to editors
Please note that four week ending or six week ending retailer share data should not be used in media reporting. We would recommend that you use the 12 week ending data stated in this release, as it covers a longer time period which means it is a superior indicator of retailer performances and trends.
For all publicly-quoted Worldpanel data, users of our research (including media) must ensure that data is sourced to‘Kantar Worldpanel’.
These findings are based on Kantar Worldpanel data for the 12 weeks to 29 January 2017. Kantar Worldpanel monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 30,000 demographically representative households in Great Britain. All data discussed in the above announcement is based on the value of items being bought by these consumers.
For further information, please contact:
Rebecca Daley / Alyona Levitin
Camargue
+44 (0)20 7636 7366
/
About Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is the global expert in shoppers’ behaviour.
Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts and government organisations globally.
With over 60 years’ experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behaviour into competitive advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.
For further information, please visit us at
Twitter:Google+:LinkedIn:RSS:Newsletter:
About Kantar
Kantar is one of the world’s leading data, insight and consultancy companies. Working together across the whole spectrum of research and consulting disciplines, its specialist brands, employing 30,000 people, provide inspirational insights and business strategies for clients in 100 countries. Kantar is part of WPP and its services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.
For further information, please visit us at
Twitter: Facebook: Google +: LinkedIn
Retailer growth figures reported by Kantar Worldpanel relate to overall take home sales, and so include the impact of store openings or closures. Like-for-like sales change is not measured or reported. Calculating like-for-like sales requires a detailed knowledge of store openings and extensions which is information held accurately only by individual retailers.
Kantar Worldpanel will only support data that is published in the context we have presented it and our own interpretation of these findings. Our commentary is based upon our own data and information in the public domain. We cannot be held responsible for any other interpretation of these findings.