Tesco and Sainsbury’s were the fastest growing traditional supermarkets this month, with sales up by 9.1% and 9.3% respectively after both ramped up loyalty schemes and unveiled reductions.
The new data from Kantar shows that Tesco’s share now stands at 27.2%, up by 0.3 percentage points from last year, and Sainsbury’s at 14.8%, up by 0.2 percentage points.
Meanwhile, German discount rivals Aldi and Lidl lost market share for the first time in months as the traditional supermarkets retaliated with price cuts.
Aldi’s sales were up 17% in the year to September 3, with Lidl’s soaring 16%, although both figures were slower than the 20% year-on-year growth recorded by the pair last month.
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The figures from Kantar showed grocery price inflation dropped to its lowest level in over 12 months as food price inflation slipped to 12.2% in the four weeks to 3 September, the sixth monthly fall in a row.
Take-home sales from the grocers rose by 7.4% compared with the same period in 2022, a slight increase on the 6.5% growth reported last month.
But Kantar head of retail Fraser McKevitt said the figures will not be “a number to celebrate for many households”.
“Our data shows that 95% of consumers are still worried about the impact of rising grocery prices, matched only by their concern about energy bills,” he added.
With the collapse of Wilko and all of its stores now set to shut by early October, McKevitt continues: “Shoppers have been making the most of Wilko’s closing sales, with its share of non-food groceries like toiletries, healthcare and household goods jumping from 1.8% in July to 2.3% in August.
“However, its sales are still down on last year and consumers are going elsewhere. Tesco, Aldi and the bargain stores, such as Poundland, B&M and Home Bargains, have been the biggest winners of customers switching spend away from Wilko.”
Asda’s market share is at 13.8% and Morrisons’ 8.6%, with sales up by 5.1% and 2.0% respectively.
Waitrose’s growth accelerated to 5.6% this month, meaning that the retailer now holds 4.6% of the market.
Ocado also saw sales increasing faster than last month, with growth now at 4.3% and market share at 1.6%.
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