Total till sales at UK supermarkets have seen sustained growth of 9.1% in the last four weeks ending 7th October 2023, only slightly down from +10.1% reported last month new data released by NIQ shows.
Volume sales have also continued to improve with a decline of just 0.4% in the last four weeks, suggesting that some shoppers are pressing the reset button on spending and taking advantage of price cuts from retailers.
This has been encouraged by an increase in the discounts offered by supermarket loyalty schemes.
German discount giants Aldi and Lidl remain the fastest growing retailers over the last 12 weeks, although sales remain strong at Tesco (+9.5%) and Sainsbury’s (+8.9%), with both retailers having more visits than the same time last year.
M&S has also seen continued growth of 12.6%, benefiting from the warm weather with Ocado growing at 9.4%.
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Data from NIQ also revealed that visits to stores were only up +1.6% as the back to school period led shoppers to return to their usual shopping patterns.
As a result, there was a slight boost to online grocery sales, with the channel’s market share returning to 11% of FMCG sales in the same period.
Warm weather towards the end of September and early October have also seen some seasonal categories achieve an uplift in sales.
NIQ UK Head of Retailer and Business Insight Mike Watkins said: “Our latest data indicates that the online grocery channel is back into sustainable growth, with sales up 7.3% over 12 weeks. Ocado has grown market share of the online channel helped by increased marketing activity and the investment in price matching against Tesco including promotions and Clubcard prices. These seems to be resonating well with shoppers.”
“There has been an improvement in volumes purchased over the last four weeks. This is a reflection that this time last year the pressure was growing on household incomes as inflation was accelerating in fuel, energy, and food. But it may also be an indication that some shoppers are now feeling more confident about their personal finances. If so, this would help sustain growth over the forthcoming half term period and may give a further boost in early November as seasonal advertising campaigns start.”
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