Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - All major UK supermarkets saw rising grocery sales but convenience stores around the country are particularly thriving in the virus lockdown, research agency Kantar said on Tuesday.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: "Convenience stores increased sales by 39% in the latest four weeks, now accounting for 16.3% of the market compared with 12.4% a year ago. It should be noted, however, that this rise may be offset by the downturn in on-the-go consumption, which will have had a disproportionate effect on convenience shops."
Data from Kantar showed take-home UK grocery sales rising by 9.1% in the 12 weeks to April 19, with online sales now accounting for 10.2% of the grocery market. Grocery sales were GBP524 million higher in the past four weeks than they were in April 2019.
"Year-on-year grocery market growth of 5.5% over the past four weeks is noticeably slower than the 20.6% recorded in March. People are spending more time at home and eating fewer meals out of the house, which has led to a strong growth in take-home grocery sales. But social distancing also means that expenditure on other categories like clothes, food bought on the go and general merchandise will have been considerably lower, so for some retailers, the overall picture will be more modest," McKevitt explained.
Kantar said UK households shopped only 14 times for groceries over the past month, a record low and down from 17 in more normal times. However, a drop in frequency was matched by a corresponding uplift in the amount spent on each trip to GBP26.02, the highest figure ever recorded by Kantar and GBP7 greater than a year ago.
In the 12 weeks to April 19, Co-op's market share rose to 6.7% from 6.1% a year ago, as sales grew by 20% to GBP2.01 billion. Independent retailers, such as Spar and Londis, also benefited from changing shopping patterns, with growth of 40.5%. Meanwhile online specialist Ocado grew sales by 19.4% to GBP458 million, with its UK market share rising to 1.5% from 1.4%.
German discounter Lidl saw a 15% growth in UK grocery sales to GBP1.79 billion, nudging its market share up to 6.0% from 5.7% in the year prior.
Compatriot Aldi had an 8.8% sales rise in the 12 weeks to GBP2.37 billion and retained its market share at 7.9%.
Among the "Big Four" UK grocers, J Sainsbury PLC booked the largest sales growth, rising 8.4% to GBP4.56 billion, but its market share fell to 15.3% from 15.4%.
Tesco PLC's market share fell to 26.8% from 27.3% despite sales rising 7.2% to GBP8.01 billion.
Walmart Inc's Asda had a 3.5% annual sales rise to GBP4.32 billion, but its market share slipped to 14.4% from 15.2%.
At Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, sales rose 4.3% year-on-year to GBP2.95 billion, with market share down to 9.9% from 10.3%.
Iceland sales rose 17% to GBP664 million with market share up to 2.2% from 2.1% and at Waitrose, sales climbed 9.4% to GBP1.50 billion. The John Lewis Partnership's unit's share of the market was unchanged at 5.0%.
Overall UK grocery price inflation for the 12-week period was 1.9%.
Tesco shares were down 1.2% in London on Tuesday morning. Sainsbury's was 1.6% lower and Morrisons down 2.1%. Ocado was down 0.8%, having started marginally higher.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
