The big four supermarkets’ share shrank in the 12 weeks to 10 November, as Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose continued their strong form, new figures have shown.
Aldi posted sales growth of 31.1%, while Lidl sales grew at 13.8% year on year, according to Kantar Worldpanel’s report today. At the other end of the market, Waitrose sales grew 8.8%, taking its market share to 4.8%.
Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s all saw their market share fall marginally.
Of the big four, Sainsbury’s sales grew 2.6%, behind the market average of 3.2%. After declines at the start of the year, Morrisons continued an upward trend with growth of 1.5%. Tesco and Asda saw sales inch up 0.7% and 0.8% respectively.
The number of shoppers visiting Aldi had grown by 16% year-on-year, with almost one-third of British households having shopped there in the last 12 weeks, according to Kantar Worldpanel director Edward Garner. Aldi had been hard at work changing perceptions on the quality of its products, Garner said: “Selling luxury items cheaply – it broadens the proposition.”
Aldi’s store expansion plans and “public persona” had also contributed to its success, Garner added. “They had quite a cuddly television campaign. They have a strong PR team and are strong on social media.”
Discounters such as Aldi and Lidl existed “within the repertoire”, and did not necessarily expect customers to do their only shop with them. “They don’t really rely on people suddenly stopping shopping at Tesco,” Garner said.
Own-label sales
Kantar also reported sales growth of 16% year-on-year for Tesco’s Finest range, which was relaunched in October, at the tail-end of the 12-week period. Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference range also saw sales rise 12%.
“Sainsbury’s and Tesco have a pretty strong run on premium lines in the run-up to Christmas – they are a reason to go shop there,” Garner said. “There’s an assumption [by the retailers] it will be a premium Christmas and not a budget Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Garner suggested Morrisons’ fresh-format stores were beginning to reap dividends, based on sales uplifts on its own-label lines. “You can detect in the numbers the store refits are having an effect,” he said. “Own label is having a more robust performance.”
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