(Alliance News) - UK supermarket sales have fallen in recent weeks as lockdown restrictions eased, data from Kantar showed on Tuesday, though football helped to cushion a return to more normal retailing trends.
According to Kantar, take-home grocery sales in the UK fell 5.1% year-on-year to GBP30.01 billion in the 12 weeks to July 11. However, shoppers still spent GBP3 billion more on groceries compared with the same period in 2019.
The Euro football tournament contributed to "football fever", which saw shoppers spend GBP1.2 billion on alcohol over the past month – a 24% increase on 2019. Sales of crisps, snacks, and pizza also soared as many gathered around to watch the tournament at home.
However, many fans chose to make the most of eased restrictions by watching the football matches in pubs and bars, which meant supermarket sales of alcohol over the four weeks to mid-July were down by 3% compared to the prior month.
Also hit by lockdown easing, year-on-year online grocery sales declined for the first time ever as the nation returned to physical stores, workplaces, and restaurants.
"The number of people choosing to buy groceries online fell by 81,000 in July compared with the same four weeks last year. As a result, year-on-year sales growth for online groceries has dropped for the first time ever – falling by 2.6%. The channel currently accounts for 13.3% of the total market," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
Sales growth at online grocer Ocado PLC slowed over the past 12 weeks to 3.0%, though it remained the fastest growing retailer and increased its market share by 0.1 percentage points to 1.8%.
Waitrose saw sales increase by 0.1% over the 12 weeks to July 11.
"Waitrose lost shoppers last year when people focused more on picking up essentials and limiting trips outside the home. But as the nation becomes more confident and starts to buy groceries from multiple places again, it has outpaced its peers with increasing footfall and as a result its market share rose by 0.3 percentage points to 5.0%," McKevitt highlighted.
Discounter Aldi gained 0.4 of a percentage point to hold 8.2% of the market while peer Lidl's share of the market increased by 0.2 of a percentage point to 6.1%.
Tesco PLC won its biggest year-on-year share increase since December 2016 in the recent period, growing to 27.1% in the 12 weeks to July 11 from 26.7% a year ago. Sales at Tesco fell 3.7% year-on-year.
Sainsbury's moved its share up to 15.2% from 14.9% last year, driven by strong performance in its online sales. Overall sales at Sainsbury's fell 3.0%.
Tesco shares were up 0.4% on Tuesday morning and Sainsbury's rose 0.1%. Ocado was up 1.2%.
Asda's share slipped by 0.1 of a percentage point to 14.0% and Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC's share fell to 10.1% from 10.3%, while sales slid 6.7%.
Fraser McKevitt said "Morrisons has made plenty of headlines this month following private equity interest in the business. Following a year of solid sales performance, shoppers are clearly pleased with what the Bradford-based grocer has offered. It sets itself apart from the competition through its distinctive fresh counters and a continued use of multibuy promotions."
Morrisons earlier this month accepted a takeover offer from a consortium of investment groups - comprising Softbank Group Corp-owned Fortress, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments - following its rejection of another private equity bid in June.
Apollo Global Management on Tuesday said it is in talks to possibly join the consortium in its bid for Morrisons.
Morrisons shares were down 0.3% at 261.30 pence early Tuesday.
By Amrit Sahota; newsroom@alliancenews.com
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