Supermarket sales increased by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in the last quarter, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel.
In the 12 weeks to July 16, supermarket growth saw its fourth consecutive quarter of growth over three per cent, the first time since 2013.
Inflation was largely responsible for the extended growth in the grocery sector, but prices have reportedly stopped accelerating, now standing at 3.2 per cent. This means shoppers may soon start to see cost pressures ease off.
Alongside inflation, the hottest days in June for 40 years helped increase supermarket sales, with ice cream sales up 34 per cent, and sun cream up 40 per cent throughout the month.
It also helped boost alcohol sales by an additional £158 million.
The German discounters were once again the fastest-growing supermarket chains, with Lidl showing its strongest growth since 2014 at 19.4 per cent after raising its market share to a record high of 5.1 per cent.
Aldi was hot on its heels with a 17.9 per cent growth in sales, bringing its market share up by 0.8 per cent to seven per cent.
READ MORE: Supermarket sales skyrocket amid inflation & retail sales decline
Tesco, Sainsbury‘s and Morrisons all saw sales increase 2.3, 2.2 and 2.1 per cent respectively.
Tesco remained that fastest-growing thanks to strong online sales, expected to grow further thanks to yesterday‘s announcement of a same-day delivery service.
Despite this, its market share is still being ground away, dropping 0.5 per cent in the quarter.
Sainsbury‘s also cashed in on positive online sales, alongside a drop in discounting which sees just 36 per cent of products sold on promotion, compared to the average of 42 per cent.
In a promising turnaround, Asda grew for the fourth consecutive period, welcoming 398,000 more shoppers and a sales boost of one per cent year-on-year.
Elsewhere, Iceland saw static market share growth of 2.1 per cent, while sales jumped 5.7 per cent thanks to a successful rebranding.
Ocado saw a healthy 11.7 per cent growth, while Waitrose and Co-op‘s sales edged up 2.8 and 0.4 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, marketshare figures from Nielsen released today also report the highest growth in supermarket sales in four years, seeing the number of trips people make to the supermarket jump four per cent.
“Various factors typically drive extra spend in grocery shopping – more disposable income, more promotions, peak events and changes in weather, and lifestyle,” Nielsen‘s head of retail insight Mike Watkins said.
“However, the first two have been falling in recent times, which shows the impact that hot weather and big sporting events – such as Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, the British and Irish Lions rugby and the women‘s cricket World Cup – had on people‘s purse strings.
“This combination encourages shoppers to spend more, particularly on fresh foods and to use convenience stores more often, with the likelihood of eating and drinking outside also increasing as people are more inclined to indulge and treat themselves.”
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