Discount stores Aldi and Lidl have seen massive growth over the last three months as consumers continue to reduce spend on essential items, according to figures released today.
Achieving “remarkable” growth of 26.1 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively, Aldi and Lidl have both achieved all-time record shares of 2.9 per cent for the 12 weeks ending July 8th 2012.
Research firm Kantar Worldpanel published market share growth figures today, revealing that grocery market growth fell to 2.1 per cent over the period compared to 4.2 per cent in 2011, while grocery price inflation now stands at 3.8 per cent.
Edward Garner, Director at Kantar, explained the findings.
“We are seeing big cutbacks by consumers as they continue to respond to this current period of austerity,” he said.
“The success of the discounters, Aldi and Lidl, is a clear example of shoppers watching their purses, with both retailers continuing to surge ahead.”
In a further sign of tough economic times, upmarket grocer Waitrose saw a 2.7 per cent drop compared to the previous period as till roll growth now stands at 4.8 per cent for last month, while premium labels have also taken a hit.
Despite seeing continuous growth since the start of the recession in 2008, premium own-label products have declined by six per cent year-on-year over the period, while Tesco‘s Everyday Value range has seen 13 per cent growth.
Tesco holds a market share of 30.7 per cent, a drop compared to last year‘s 31.1 per cent while Morrisons has seen a 0.2 per cent decrease in market share, now at 11.9 per cent.
Earlier this month, numerous major supermarkets met with Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman to discuss how to tackle food waste which is rife in the sector in order to distribute stock to relevant charities while managing stock in keeping with consumer demand.
Garner said: “Frozen food continues to be the top-growing food sector, as consumers look to reduce waste, and this has helped Iceland to continue the upward trend it has enjoyed since 2005.”
