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(Alliance News) - Grocery sales in the UK slipped over the past quarter, but remained ahead of pre-pandemic levels, data from Kantar showed Tuesday.
In the 12 weeks ended October 31, UK grocery sales fell by 1.9% to GBP28.90 billion from GBP29.45 billion in the same period the year before. This, however, remained 7.3% higher from the same period in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.
"Our shopping habits are beginning to settle at a new baseline as we've adapted our lifestyles through the pandemic. The general trend towards bigger, less frequent trips to the supermarket seems set to stay," explained Fraser McKevitt, head of retail & consumer insight at Kantar.
According to data, households visited the supermarket 15.7 times in the past month on average. That is a slight increase from the 15.3 trips recorded at this time in 2020, but consumers are still making 40 million fewer trips per month than they were in 2019.
"At this rate of change, it would take three years to get back to our old shopping patterns," noted McKevitt.
For the second month in a row, digital sales accounted for 12% of the total grocery market, as a fifth of households consistently order groceries online each month.
By brand, Tesco PLC bucked the wider market decline and was the only retailer to achieve year-on-year growth, with sales rising by 0.3% over the 12 weeks to October 31.
"Almost three quarters of the population made a trip to Tesco in the past three months, helping the retailer to gain market share for the tenth month in a row and boost its proportion of the market by 0.6 percentage points to 27.6%," said McKevitt.
J Sainsbury PLC and Asda market shares were 15.2% and 14.3%, respectively, each slipping by 0.1 of a percentage point year-on-year. Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC market share slipped by 0.2 of a percentage point to 10.0%.
Co-op's market share now stands at 6.3% and Waitrose's is 5.0%, also down by 0.1 of a percentage points each year-on-year.
While Lidl's sales remained flat compared with last year, the grocer performed ahead of the market to nudge up share by 0.1 percentage points to 6.2%. Aldi also increased its share of total grocery sales by 0.1 percentage points and it now holds 7.9% of the market.
Iceland's market share remained steady at 2.3% in 12 weeks to October 31.
When compared with the equivalent period in 2019, all retailers boosted their sales in the latest 12 weeks.
Ocado Group PLC achieved the strongest increase in sales compared with two years ago, growing by 35.7%, while its market share stayed flat at 1.7%.
Turning to product choice, Kantar said people are picking up more healthcare products amid rising Covid-19 infections this month. Sales of cold treatments in October doubled compared with last year.
In addition, shoppers prepare for a festive season. McKevitt explained: "After a tough 18 months, consumers are gearing up for bigger and better celebrations. An unrestricted Halloween drove sales of pumpkins up 26% in the four weeks to October 31, and with trick or treating back on the cards seasonal confectionery grew by 27%."
Data showed 4.7 million households bought mince pies this month and 1.6 million households bought their Christmas pudding, 400,000 more than last year. Frozen poultry sales, meanwhile, were 27% higher year-on-year in October.
Finally, Kantar said like-for-like grocery price inflation in the latest four weeks reached 2.1%.
"Grocery prices are rising and this month inflation hit its highest rate since August 2020, when retailers were still cutting promotions to maintain stock on the shelves. As prices increase in certain categories, we can expect shoppers to continue to visit several supermarkets and shop around to find the best deals. Already, households visit an average of 3.3 supermarkets per month in order to find the best value for money," said McKevitt.
Tesco shares were trading 0.2% higher in London on Tuesday morning at 275.45 pence each, while Sainsbury's stock was down 0.2% at 288.70p a share. Ocado gained 0.7%, with shares trading at 1,712.72p.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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