Result for the greens! According to the latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, the results of the last 12 weeks show that ASDA has regained its former title as Britain‘s second largest supermarket, after previously losing ground to Sainsbury‘s.

Despite a fall in sales of 2.5% and a 0.6% fall in its market share, the silver runner of the ‘Big Four‘ of British retail seems to be holding its own, at least for now. According to Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, Asda‘s “greater focus on non-food items means its market share is traditionally higher in the summer.” This year‘s heat certainly played to the supermarket‘s strengths in this respect, but with the weather now turning dismal it may soon become more vulnerable to competitors.

Regardless of its decline in the tables, Sainsbury‘s is the only one of the ‘Big Four‘ retailers to have seen an increase in sales, which are up by 0.1% – its first growth since March.  Despite this, its year on year share of the market has now fallen by 0.1% to 16.3%, compared to Asda‘s 16.6% and front runner Tesco‘s 28.3% share. McKevitt estimates that it “will again become the number two retailer towards Christmas.”

Other larger retailers have also suffered. Morrison‘s suffered a 1.1% decline in the tables; a dark contrast to its success last year when it offered widespread voucher promotions to customers.

Competition remains constant, particularly as smaller dark horses have seen growth this year. Iceland‘s sales have risen by 3.4%, largely due to its recent efforts to create a more premium image for frozen food as well as new store openings, though the company‘s overall market share remains a dismal 2%.

Meanwhile, Waitrose has enjoyed continued success, with its game-changing ‘Pick Your Own Offers‘ promotion driving an impressive growth of 3.7%.

The Co-operative has experienced growth for the second month in a row, with sales at the till up by 1.1% compared to last year.

Discounters also continue to be an ever present thorn in the side of the Big Four. Growth at Aldi accelerated to 18.0%, whilst Lidl‘s sales rose by 12.8%, taking its total market share to 4.1%.

Enjoy your success while you can Asda – the fight for the top positions in British retail is hardly over.

Phil Gallagher