Wet weather sees slowdown in grocery sales
By Josh White
Date: Tuesday 18 Jun 2024
(Sharecast News) - Fresh data released on Tuesday revealed a slowdown in take-home grocery sales, which increased by just 1.0% over the four weeks to 9 June.
The release from Kantar marked the slowest growth since June 2022, influenced by unseasonably wet weather and declining inflation.
Shoppers visited supermarkets 16.3 times this month on average, slightly down from 16.4 visits in June last year.
The sixth wettest spring on record dampened traditional summer spending, resulting in a 25% drop in suncare product sales, while sales of fresh soups rose nearly 24% year-on-year.
Despite that, households were feeling more financially secure, with 36% now describing their financial position as comfortable, the highest proportion since 2021.
Grocery price inflation had slowed to 2.1% - the 16th consecutive monthly decline.
Kantar also noted that the men's UEFA European Football Championship could boost sales for supermarkets and pubs, depending on the performance of England and Scotland.
"The cost-of-living crisis isn't over - far from it," said Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt.
"22% of households say they're struggling, meaning that they aren't able to cover their expenses or are just making ends meet.
"However, there are positive signs that many of us no longer feel the need to restrict our spending quite so much, with lower inflation helping to ease the pressure on people's pockets."
McKevitt said that May saw the largest jump in the number of comfortable households since January last year, rising by two percentage points on February's figure.
"Costs are falling in nearly one third of the grocery categories we track, including toilet tissues, butter and milk.
"That's a big increase from last year, when just 1% of markets were declining."
Ocado was still the fastest-growing grocer, with a 10.7% increase in sales over the 12 weeks to 9 June, outperforming the total online market's 4.0% growth.
Nearly a quarter of British households shopped online, with over 4% using Ocado, which now held 1.8% of the market.
Lidl expanded its market share by 0.4 percentage points to 8.1%, while Aldi increased its share to 10.0% with a 0.8% sales boost.
Tesco, achieving its highest market share since February 2022, grew by 0.6 percentage points to 27.7%, with sales up by 4.6%.
Sainsbury's sales rose by 4.9%, capturing 15.2% of the market.
Morrisons, celebrating its 125th anniversary, saw a 1.1% sales increase, maintaining an 8.7% market share.
Iceland boosted sales by 4.4%, increasing its share to 2.4%, the first rise since March last year.
Waitrose attracted 188,000 new shoppers over the latest 12 weeks, the largest increase among grocers, with a 3.5% sales growth and a 4.5% market share.
Asda and the Co-op meanwhile held 12.8% and 5.5% of the market, respectively.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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