The late summer and unexpected heatwave in early September helped to lift grocery sales at UK supermarkets.
According to new data from NIQ, total till sales grew 10.3% in the four weeks ending 9 September, compared with the same period in 2022.
Growth at supermarkets increased by 7.2% and peaked at 10.2% in the week ending 9 September during the UK’s unexpected heatwave.
During this week, volume sales also improved, up 2.1% for the first time since the beginning of May, which NIQ said suggests improved consumer willingness to spend.
Although online sales grew behind bricks and mortar, a quarter of GB households continued to shop online during the last four weeks.
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NIQ UK head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins, said: “The warm weather has led consumers to shop more in-store, but online penetration remains unchanged in the last four weeks which has been an underlying trend this year.
“Shoppers are still using this channel but habits have changed. As they visit stores more often, consumers are reducing grocery spending online as they shop around to find the best prices.”
During the warmer weather, more fresh food including tomatoes and lettuce was purchased, with a total of £172m spent on fresh poultry.
End of summer clearances and back to school promotions also led to an uplift in volume sales for general merchandise items, up 1.7%.
Across the supermarkets, M&S saw sales growth of 11.8% following the opening of new Foodhalls, as almost one in three households shopped at the upmarket retailer.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s also saw positive performances following price cuts delivered through loyalty schemes, as NIQ said that the most important saving strategies are shopping at stores with loyalty points.
However, Aldi and Lidl were found to have outperfomed across all shopper metrics with new customers, more visits and higher spend per visit, with sales growth of 19.6% and 16.6%, respectively.
Watkins added: “Retailers are keen to pass on price cuts as inflation continues to slow. However, they also need to make sure that messages resonate with price conscious consumers, as for some, their discretionary spending power is still limited.
“The good news is that FMCG volumes are starting to improve against the declines of last year so we expect total till growth to be around 7% in Q4 and volume growth at food retailers in December.”
