Supermarket Tesco has clawed back its share of the fiercely competitive grocery market, maintaining market share and matching market growth for the first time in over 18 months, according to data released today.
In the 12 weeks ending January 20th 2013, Tesco‘s market share stood at 30.4 per cent, the same level as the corresponding period last year while its market share growth reached 3.3 per cent.
Overall grocery inflation is currently at 4.9 per cent for the 12 week period, up 0.4 per cent on last period and continuing a rising trend since last September, highlighting the ever-changing economic considerations for Britain‘s top supermarkets.
Tesco in particular has struggled to maintain its position in recent months and the ongoing horsemeat scandal is threatening to weaken the chain and damage its reputation.
Putting these findings into context, Kantar Worldpanel Director Edward Garner said : “These positive results are a sign of stabilisation for Tesco as the retailer gets back on track with its customers.
“However, this improvement has put some pressure on the rest of the big four with Morrisons in particular suffering a drop in sales and a share decline of 0.6 percentage points in the latest period.”
As Morrisons struggles to dominate the market in an increasingly multichannel environment, Kantar has once again identified a two-nations divide as discounters and premium end grocers strengthened their hold.
Upmarket grocer Waitrose, which achieved £300 million sales over the Christmas and New Year period, saw growth rise eight per cent year-on-year as it reported a market share of 4.6 per cent, while discounter Aldi recorded a growth rate of 28.2 per cent over the period.
Meanwhile, Lidl saw its market share increase 10 per cent while Iceland maintained its record 2.2 per cent share as reported last period, though Garner emphasised the improvement seen from mutual grocery business The Co-op Food.
He concluded: “It is worth noting the improved performance from The Co-operative this month, with the retailer recording a sales increase of 0.9 per cent.
“This growth contrasts with the declines posted throughout 2012 and could be a positive step for the grocer.”
