Sainsbury’s sales growth edged ahead of mainstream rivals such as Tesco and Asda as grocery prices fell for the fourth month in a row.
Sales jumped 10.7% at Sainsbury’s, just ahead of the 10.5% at Asda and 10.2% at Tesco.
Morrisons revenue edged up 2.5%, however this was its best showing since April 2021, according to the latest market share data from Kantar.
However, German discounter Aldi was the fasest growing grocer, with sales soaring 24%, just ahead of Lidl’s 22.3% growth. Grocery price inflation saw its biggest drop since it peaked in March thanks to an influx of supermarket promotions helping to bring down prices.
Inflation fell for the fourth consecutive month to 14.9% in the four weeks to July 9, down from 16.5%, latest figures from Kantar show.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
The change comes as spending on promotions increased for the first time in two years, accounting for 25.2% of the market, due to more supermarkets introducing loyalty member pricing.
However, the rate remains “incredibly high” after peaking in March at 17.5%, with the average annual household grocery bill £330 higher on last year.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “Grocery price inflation has now been falling for four months in a row. That will be good news for many households although, of course, the rate is still incredibly high.
“The change comes as spending on promotions has gone up for the first time in two years, now accounting for just over a quarter of the total market at 25.2%.
“One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen in this area is retailers ramping up loyalty card deals like Tesco’s Clubcard Prices and Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices.
“This could signal a change in focus by the grocers who had been concentrating their efforts on everyday low pricing, particularly by offering more value own-label lines.
“The boost to promotional spending has contributed to bringing inflation down but this isn’t all that’s driving the change. Prices were rising quickly last summer so this latest slowdown is partially down to current figures being compared with those higher rates one year ago.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
