Co-op shines in latest grocery market data
MANCHESTER-based convenience store operator Co-operative Food was the stand-out performer in the three months to the end of January, the latest grocery market data has revealed.
The Co-op, which is the fifth-biggest retailer after Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, outperformed them all during the period, Kantar Worldpanel said. Its sales grew 1.4% to £1.623bn and market share held firm at 5.9%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said: “For the first time since 2011 the Co-operative was the fastest growing non-discounter, increasing sales by 1.4%. The convenience-focused grocer grew its own-label sales by 7%, with sales up fastest in the fresh and chilled part of the store.
“The Co-operative is the most frequently visited major supermarket – their customers shopped there an average of almost 19 times over the past 12 weeks, compared with a market average of 11 visits.”
The figures showed the grocery market returning to slow growth after a disappointing Christmas period, delivering a take-home sales increase of 0.2%. While the overall grocery market’s growth has been slight, New Year health kicks have contributed to a strong performance across fresh foods.
McKevitt added: “Consumers are clearly striving for a healthier start to the year and have turned to fresh foods – particularly fruit and vegetables, which have both grown sales by 5%. Given that they’re still experiencing like-for-like deflation it’s a significant revenue growth for both categories, shared across both traditional and discount retailers. Similar growth has been seen in nuts, fresh poultry and fish.”
During the period, German discounters Aldi and Lidl continued to our-perform the market. Lidl’s sales grew 18.7% and Aldi’s 13.7%.
Sainsbury’s increased its sales for the sixth period in row, growing by 0.6% with a resulting market share increase of 0.1 percentage points to 16.8%. Meanwhile Tesco showed signs of improvement – while revenues fell by 1.6% these are the best numbers posted by the retailer since September of last year.
At Morrisons, the sales decline lessened to 2.2%, while market share fell by 0.3 percentage points to 10.8%. The retailer’s revenues will continue to reflect its disposal of 140 M Local stores and the closure of some larger outlets through the rest of 2016.
Asda’s recent announcement of renewed price cuts did not have time to affect its latest 12 week figures, with sales falling by 3.8% and share falling back to 16.2%.
