(Alliance News) - Grocery sales in the UK slipped over the past quarter, but promisingly remained ahead of pre-pandemic levels, data from Kantar showed Tuesday.
In the 12 weeks ended October 3, UK grocery sales fell 1.2% to GBP28.79 billion from GBP29.13 billion in the same period the year before. This, however, remained 8.1% higher from the same period in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.
The drop, Kantar noted, could have stemmed from customers limiting trips to the supermarket following the squeeze on petrol in the country.
"Queues outside petrol stations made headlines last month and visits to forecourts in the south of England increased by 66% on Friday September 24 as people topped up their tanks ahead of the weekend. The reduced availability of petrol saw shoppers limit the number of trips they made to supermarkets," Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said.
He continued: "The average household made 15.5 store visits in the past four weeks, the lowest monthly figure since February. Shoppers staying off the roads also meant the proportion of groceries bought online, which has been steadily decreasing over the past seven months, crept up to 12.4% compared with 12.2% in September."
Ocado Group PLC, which frequently made sales and market share strides in past Kantar surveys during the virus outbreak, saw sales slip 5.9% in the 12-week period to GBP498 million from GBP530 million - but recorded the highest two-year rise of 36%. Its market share dropped to 1.7% from 1.8%.
"Consumers made the most of their time in store once they did make it to the shop, and trips where people spent over £100 were up by 6%. A minority of very prepared shoppers also took the chance to get ahead on their festive spending as 449,000 eager consumers bought their Christmas pudding in September, with sales 76% higher than in the same month last year. Sales of toys are also up by 5% on last year while gift wrapping products grew by 10%," McKevitt said.
He added: "It's important to say, however, that these are still relatively small numbers and anxiety around supply issues has not translated to panic buying – festive or otherwise."
Among the 'Big Four', Tesco PLC, the UK's largest grocer, was one of just two major supermarket to post sales growth during the period. Tesco sales increased 1.2% to GBP7.3 billion from GBP7.84 billion. Market share improved to 27.5% from 26.9% - its best result since February 2019.
J Sainsbury PLC's sales, meanwhile, fell 1.5% to GBP4.29 billion from GBP4.35 billion, however its market share was unchanged at 14.9%.
At Asda, sales fell 1.7% to GBP4.13 billion from GBP4.21 billion, while its market share was unchanged at 14.4%.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC saw sales fall by a hefty 4.0%, the worst of the 'Big Four'. Kantar said sales at Morrisons fell to GBP2.83 billion from GBP2.95 billion, with market share falling to 9.8% from 10.1%.
The only other grocer to post sales growth was German discounter Lidl, up 0.4% to GBP1.78 billion. Peer Aldi slipped 0.4% to GBP2.31 billion. Lidl's market share inched higher to 6.2% from 6.1%, while Aldi's was unchanged at 8.0%.
Sales at John Lewis Partnership's Waitrose were flat at GBP1.46 billion, but its market share improved to 5.1% from 5.0%.
Elsewhere, sales at Iceland fell 2.3% to GBP659 million and market share was flat at 2.3%, while Co-op sales dropped 3.1% to GBP1.85 billion and its share of the market ebbed to 6.4% from 6.6%.
Kantar said grocery inflation stood at 0.9% for the 12-week period, and ticked up to 1.7% over the past four weeks alone.
"Prices are rising fastest in markets such as savoury snacks, cat food and crisps while falling in fresh bacon, vegetables and cat and dog treats," Kantar said.
McKevitt added: "In real world terms, the average household had to spend an extra GBP5.94 on groceries last month than they did at the same time last year. The typical household spends GBP4,726 per year in the supermarkets, so any future price rises will quickly add up. Shoppers will look to manage their spend by carefully selecting the products and retailers that offer them the best value."
In London on Tuesday morning, Sainsbury's shares were 0.4% lower, Morrisons was down 0.1%, Tesco was down 0.7% but Ocado was 0.4% higher.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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