Asda and Morrisons remain under pressure as sector struggles to grow
THE supermarket sector remains under pressure with the latest grocery figures showing a sixth consecutive month where the market has shown year-on-year growth of less than 1%.
Asda’s rate of decline increased in the 12 weeks to September 13, with sales down 2.9%, according to industry analysts Kantar Worldpanel. However it retained second place ahead of Sainsbury’s, with its market share at 16.7% compared to its rival’s 16.2%, despite Sainsbury’s being the only one of the big four to increase sales.
Morrisons has continued to see its sales and market share slip. Sales were down 1.4% while its share was down to 10.7%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, warned that Morrisons’ market share is expected “to fall further in the coming months as the recently announced store closures take effect”.
Mr McKevitt added: “Sainsbury’s has grown sales by 0.9% compared with a year ago, attracting 250,000 new shoppers through the door in the last 12 weeks. The retailer has held its share steady at 16.2%, helped by the continued expansion of its Sainsbury’s Local outlets.
“Tesco has also increased revenues through its Express convenience stores, although overall sales fell by 1% and market share dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 28.2%. Sales at Morrisons decreased by 1.4%, taking share to 10.7%, with this likely to fall further in the coming months as the recently announced store closures take effect. “
The discount supermarkets continue to take market share, as Lidl’s sales grew by 16% to reach a new market share high of 4.2%, and Aldi also demonstrated strong sales growth, up by 17.3%, taking a 5.6% share of the market.
