Total till sales at UK supermarkets slowed to 8.9% over the four weeks to 15 July, down from unusually high growth of 12.4% in June.
Data from NIQ found the drop in sales was partly due to the shift away from warm weather and peak inflation last month, as well as a slowdown in food inflation and trading against previous high comparatives, including the acceleration of inflation this time last year.
Volume sales at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons were down -3.6% as shoppers chose to spend more carefully amid the summer holidays, and as cooler, wetter weather led to less occassions for people to socialise.
While growth slowed across dairy products and frozen foods, confectionary sales were up 16.5%, with packaged grocery, crisps and snacks also on the rise.
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Promotional activity in UK supermarkets now accounts for 22.5% of grocery sales – the highest over the past 12 months except at Easter and Christmas.
Shoppers spent £800m more in store than the same period last year with discounters Aldi and Lidl maintaining stronger sales growth, up 22.3% and 17.9%, respectively.
Value retail chains such as B&M, Home Bargains and Poundland have also seen FMCG sales increase by 11% as NIQ found that 70% of households visited them over the past year as 73% of shoppers seek lower prices.
NIQ UK head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins said: “Shoppers continue to seek out value by looking for bargains, we’re seeing them become more channel agnostic and less likely to remain loyal to many supermarkets.
“The value retail channel is becoming a destination for many households for snacks, household, and personal care as well as certian branded packaged grocery items.”
He added that over the next eight weeks, NIQ expects to see “a similar pattern on spending with little improvement in volume sales as school holidays kick off.”
“The battleground for shopper loyalty is now shifting – retailers must be prepared to build on the trend to shop little and more often when consumers revert to their usual shopping patterns post holidays.”
