Co-op boosted by sales figures

THE Co-operative Food and Iceland were the big summer winners, alongside the continued runaway success of Aldi and Lidl, according to the latest grocery market share data.

With all the big four supermarkets showing falls in the 12 weeks to July 19 (Tesco -0.6%, Asda -2.7%, Sainsbury’s 0.3% and Morrisons 0.1%), the Co-op grew 1% and Iceland 3% in the period.

Waitrose, which lies behind the Co-op as the country’s sixth largest grocer, was also up 3%, figures from Kantar Worldpanel said.

Overall sales increased by 0.8% to £25.2bn compared with a year ago, with stronger growth being enjoyed by the smaller retailers.
 
Fraser McKevitt, head of consumer and retail insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The Co-operative has returned to growth for the first time since July 2014, increasing its sales by 1%.

“The Manchester-based grocer’s focus on its convenience offer has been rewarded with an increase in shopper numbers, which have risen by 133,000. While The Co-operative’s growth is slightly ahead of the market, its overall share of 6.3% has remained the same as last year.”

Despite a fall in sales of 0.3%, Sainsbury’s has edged its market share of 16.5% ahead of Asda, which now stands at 16.4%. Sainsbury’s has returned to its position as the nation’s second largest supermarket for the first time since January, boosted by non-food sales, its Sainsbury’s Local outlets and faster market growth in the south of the country, where it operates a larger number of stores.

Growth has accelerated at Waitrose, where sales have risen by 3.0%. Customers have taken advantage of the recently introduced ‘Pick Your Own Offers’ initiative to push market share up to 5.0%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared with last year.

McKevitt added: “The continued slow growth of the overall market can be explained by minimal volume growth and lower like-for-like prices, both as a result of cheaper commodity prices and the fierce competition between supermarkets. Comparable groceries are now 1.6% cheaper than a year ago, meaning prices have been falling since September 2014, although they are projected to start rising again by early 2016.”

German challenger Aldi grew by 16.6% while Lidl saw growth of 11.3%, meaning both have moved to new market share highs of 5.6% and 4.0% respectively.

Deeside-based Iceland’s sale growth was attributed to its recent ‘Power of Frozen’ advertising campaign.

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