Asda struggles despite early Easter boosting supermarket sales
THE early Easter has provided good news for the embattled supermarket sector after new figures showed it has enjoyed its fastest growth this year.
The 12-week period to March 27 showed a 1.1% increase in sales across the sector, analysts Kantar Worldpanel said in its latest monthly update.
However Walmart-owned Asda, which is headquartered in Leeds, saw sales drop 3.9% demonstrating the urgency behind its revival plan Project Renewal.
Bradford-based Morrisons saw its sales fall by 2.4%, although this was a consequence of its sale of its M Local convenience stores last autumn. It has more momentum than its West Yorkshire rival, having made a swift return to the FTSE 100 and recently announcing a well-received agreement with US online giant Amazon to sell its products through the site.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “An early Easter gave the market a sales boost of £152m compared to last year, adding 0.6% to the overall growth rate.
“Britain’s love of all things sweet was in evidence, with 63% of households buying at least one chocolate egg during March, spending an average of £12 over the month. Over half of the population bought hot cross buns, while 15% purchased a fresh leg of lamb for their Easter celebrations.”
The Co-operative saw sales increase by 3.9% – its fastest growth since the Somerfield acquisition in 2011 – increasing its market share by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%, while Sainsbury’s February announcement that it is scaling back multi-buy promotions hasn’t dampened performance at the retailer, which continued to lead the big four with a sales increase of 1.2%.
Shoppers continue to benefit from falling grocery prices, with like-for-like prices 1.5% lower than this time last year.
Mr McKevitt added: “While saving money on the basics, consumers are not averse to treating themselves. Premium own label sales grew by 6.6% in the past 12 weeks, well ahead of the overall grocery market. Aldi and Lidl are leading the way, growing their premium lines more than twice as quickly as the rest of their ranges, but we’ve seen this across the retail spectrum – from Morrisons and The Co-operative to the likes of Waitrose, whose forthcoming launch of Waitrose 1 is the latest attempt by a traditional grocer to reclaim sales from the discounters.”
