Market shares down across the Big Four but Morrisons escapes the worst

THE Big Four supermarkets all lost market share in the 12 weeks to April 26, the latest grocery data reveals.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, and Morrisons all saw sales fall in the period, Kantar Worldpanel said and Sainsbury’s results out today showed that the supermarket had made its first full-year loss in ten years.

Meanwhile German discounters Aldi and Lidl and Waitrose grew their market share, with Aldi increasing its share by a huge 15.1%.

Consumer spend at Bradford supermarket chain Morrisons declined from £2.79bn to £2.76bn.

However Walmart-owned and Leeds-headquartered Asda was the worst performer of the main supermarkets, with the amount customers spent there declining even further from £4.38bn to £4.28bn.

Sainsbury’s reported a marginal decline of 0.2%. Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, saw its market share fall 1.0% to 28.4%, while The Co-op declined 1.0% to 6%.

Aldi continued to be the best performer with 15% growth in the period, followed by Lidl, up 10.1% and Waitrose, up 1.5%.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Growth in the market has declined thanks to a record low for grocery price deflation: a typical basket of everyday items is now 2.1% cheaper than it was in 2014.

“Lower costs are the result of both falling commodity prices and the ongoing supermarket price war, with all major retailers offering cheaper like-for-like goods.”

“This is good news for consumers, saving the average household £20 in the last three months. But many of the country’s largest grocers have struggled to enjoy substantial growth, with lower prices taking £532m out of supermarket tills.”

McKevitt added: “German discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to be the fastest growing retailers, up by 15.1% and 10.1% respectively. Both are rewarded with new record high market shares: 5.4% for Aldi and 3.8% for Lidl.

“While such growth is the envy of the industry it is slower than in recent months, suggesting the discounter momentum is starting to slow a little.”