Lidl remains the fastest growing supermarket in the last 12 weeks ending 10 September, with sales soaring by 9.4% as UK shoppers buy little and often to help manage rising costs.
The latest data from NielsenIQ also reveals that overall supermarket sales growth slowed from 4.5% the previous month to 2.5% for the four-week period ending 10 September, as shoppers reset their spending patterns after the summer.
NielsenIQ data shows that supermarkets sales dipped to £2.48bn in the week to 10 September – the lowest for some time – while volumes are also down by 4.4% over the last 12 weeks as the cost of household bills continues to surge.
However, at the same time, visits to stores increased by 4.8% in the last four weeks, indicating that shoppers are moving away from the weekly shop and towards the ‘little and often’ approach.
In terms of retailer performance, Lidl remains the fastest growing grocery retailer over the last 12 weeks, with sales increasing by 9.4% against the previous 12-week period. It is closely followed by the Co-operative (6.9%), Marks & Spencer (5.5%) and Iceland (5.5%).
Asda was the fastest growing retailer from among the ‘big 4 supermarkets’ with sales increasing by 5%, while sales at Morrisons and Waitrose continued to fall.
NielsenIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins, said: “Asda sales have rebounded strongly in recent weeks helped by weak year ago sales, but the retailer has also been attracting new shoppers.
This suggests that new range initiatives such as Just Essentials and the roll out of Asda Rewards are giving a stronger price perception and now starting to have an impact on sales.”
Online grocery also suffered as a result of consumers watching their spend, with visits declining by 5.3% over the period – around 1 million fewer online deliveries than this time last year. As a result, online sales fell by 7%, compared with the same period last year.
Pet and petcare was the fastest growing category over the four weeks with value growth of 12.7%. Meanwhile, there was also strong value growth in soft drinks (11%) – the only FMCG category to see volume growth (4.5%).
However, food inflation also continues to lift value growth in dairy (+9.3%) and bakery products (+6.9%), while value declined across beers, wines and spirits (4.5%), fresh produce (2.3%), and confectionery (2%).
Watkins continued: “With food prices continuing to rise and household energy costs about to jump in October, it’s no surprise that our data shows that 57% of consumers are saying they have been severely or moderately affected by the cost-of-living crisis, and in three months this is anticipated to rise to 76%.
“With CPI inflation expected to remain close to current levels for the rest of the year, this will encourage households to shop around and to look for savings across different retailers, with shoppers increasingly focusing on the cost of their weekly groceries to help manage personal finances.”
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Not surprising, but misleading, considering how they have hiked their prices, like cheese up 60%. What is lidl’s organic growth, i.e. not inflation led?