Discounters hit record UK grocery market share - Kantar Worldpanel
LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - The combined UK grocery market
share of German discounters Aldi and Lidl
has hit a record 10.5 percent as they continue to win business
from Britain's traditional big supermarkets, industry data
showed on Tuesday.
Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Aldi's sales
increased 11.5 percent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to June 19,
taking its market share to 6.1 percent, while Lidl's sales rose
13.8 percent, taking its share to 4.4 percent.
The performance of Britain's so-called big four grocers was
a continuation of recent trends, with all of them losing market
share compared with the year before.
Sales at Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) fell 1.3 percent, while at Morrisons
they dropped 2.4 percent, both reflecting the ongoing
impact of store disposals. At Sainsbury's sales fell
1.4 percent, while at Asda they were down 5.9 percent.
Overall UK grocery sales fell 0.2 percent, while deflation
was 1.4 percent.
Falling prices reflect the impact of Aldi and Lidl and the
market's response, as well as deflation in some major product
categories such as bacon, butter, and detergents.
The monthly data predates Thursday's referendum which saw
Britain vote to leave the European Union.
"The immediate economic uncertainty is unlikely to cause a
substantial fall in grocery volumes, as demonstrated by the 2008
financial crisis when basic food, drinks and household sales
proved resilient," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and
consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.
But he noted that with an estimated 40 percent of the food
Britain consumed sourced from overseas, any long term change in
exchange rates could threaten the current period of cheaper
groceries.
Market share and sales growth (percent)
12 wks to 12 wks to pct change
June 19, June 21, in sales
2016 2015
Tesco 28.2 28.6 -1.3
Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's 16.3 16.5 -1.4
Asda 15.6 16.5 -5.9
Morrisons 10.8 11.0 -2.4
Co-operative 6.3 6.2 2.0
Aldi 6.1 5.5 11.5
Waitrose 5.2 5.1 1.3
Lidl 4.4 3.9 13.8
Iceland 2.1 2.0 3.5
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Mark Potter)