M&S is neck and neck with Waitrose in grocery share over 52 weeks, Worldpanel data seen by The Grocer shows.
M&S’s grocery market share for the year to 7 September was 4.5%, made up of 4% in its stores and another 0.5% through Ocado.com.
Waitrose was also on 4.5% over the period, with its share dropping from 4.6% since 2023.
Because Worldpanel (formerly Kantar) does not define M&S as a grocer, it measures the two retailers’ grocery market share using different criteria. M&S’s share is measured from sales in fewer categories, meaning its number would potentially be higher if the same methodology was applied.
M&S’s includes food, alcohol, household and health & beauty, but excludes housewares and other general merchandise. Waitrose’s covers all expenditure through store tills, including general merchandise but excluding petrol and in-store concessions.
The numbers put M&S well on course to hit a target set by its CEO of reaching 4.5% grocery market share through its stores by 2028. M&S was on 3.5% when Stuart Machin set the target in 2023. Since then, M&S’s sales have consistently grown faster than the market, despite a major cyberattack in April this year.
M&S products make up a third of sales on Ocado, which has been growing faster than any other major supermarket since March 2024. Ocado sales were up by 11.9% year on year in Worldpanel’s latest monthly published market update, covering the 12 weeks to 7 September, pushing its share to 1.9%, up from 1.8% a year ago.
Waitrose’s market share over the 12 weeks was 4.4%, down from 4.5% a year ago. Its sales were up 4.3% year on year, while M&S’s grocery sales climbed by 5.9% in the same timeframe. Worldpanel does not provide a share figure for M&S in its monthly grocery market update.
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New NIQ data this week has M&S ahead, on 3.8% market share in the 12 weeks to 6 September, compared to Waitrose’s 3.7%.
M&S opened six food stores and two full line stores while ‘renewing’ another nine last year. In July it stepped up its store rotation programme for this financial year, with plans for 16 new openings, nine extensions and 12 renewals.
“More customers are choosing M&S Food, whether it’s to grab dinner for tonight, family essentials in the weekly shop, or adding to basket online,” said M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann. “It is particularly encouraging that M&S Food is outperforming the market in both value and volume and both in-store and online.
“Today’s figures further highlight our consistent and long-term market share growth, and we are making great progress, but there is more to do and much opportunity ahead as we work to double the size of our Food business.”
Waitrose’s Worldpanel market share figure does not include its on-demand sales through Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat. The supermarket did not provide a comment.
A Worldpanel spokesperson said: “Our grocery market share release provides a full view of grocers’ performance, including all expenditure through main store tills, for example excluding petrol and in-store concessions.”
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