Fastest growth in five years for Morrisons

Supermarket giant Morrisons has experienced its fastest growth in five years.

It grew ahead of the market with a sales increase of 2.6% and held its market share steady at 10.6% according to analysts at Kantar Worldpanel.

They put this down to positive performance in-store, as well as the rapid expansion of its ecommerce business.

Morrisons has been investing in its local credentials recently, announcing plans to source a further 200 suppliers and cut the supply chain radius to under 60 miles.

Leeds-based, Walmart-owned Asda was the only retailer to see sales fall during the past 12 weeks. However a decline of just 0.8% showed significant improvement – and it was the grocer’s best performance since November 2014.

For the 12 weeks to February 2017, supermarket sales grew at their fastest rate since June 2014, up 2.3% compared to the same time last year.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Like-for-like inflation has doubled since last month to stand at 1.4% during the past 12 weeks. However, when placed in their longer-term context, these price increases are still fairly minimal.

“Staples such as butter, tea and fish all saw prices rise by more than 5% during the past 12 weeks, as fruit and vegetables – many of which are imported – also saw an uptick in price.

“However, it’s important to point out that inflation is still far from universal, with prices actually falling across a number of categories including crisps, bacon and eggs.

“While consumers may be starting to feel a very slight pinch, increased inflation has led to overall market growth. Simultaneously, combined sales at the UK’s four largest supermarkets increased by 0.5% year on year.

“This is a timely reminder that despite the huge interest in the discounters during recent years the big four remain a force to be reckoned with: they still hold just over 70% of the market, with almost 99% of the population shopping in a Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons during the latest quarter.”