Sainsbury’s has delivered its strongest growth in market share in a decade as Kantar predicts a record Christmas for grocery retailers.
The supermarket giant‘s share of the market this November grew by 0.4 percentage points to 15.6%, driven by a 10.2% increase in sales, according to the marketing data and analytics firm.
Lidl also increased is share by 0.4 percentage points from 7.4% to 7.8%, representing a 14.2% year-on-year change.
Grocers such as Asda, Morrisons and Co-op faired less well, losing share by 0.6, 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points respectively.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “Sainsbury’s delivered its largest market share gain in over a decade this November, taking an additional 0.4 percentage points to reach 15.6%.
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“The last time it made this big a jump was in March 2013. Its growth was driven in no small part by the continued success of its own-label offer, with sales of its popular ‘Taste the Difference’ range up by a whopping 23% year on year.
“These premium products feature prominently in Sainsbury’s Christmas TV spot this year and our testing showed its lead TV ad is one of the top performers for potential short-term sales impact. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the numbers next month to see how this translates at the tills.
Sainsbury’s growth comes as Kantar predicts that December will bring record sales for grocery retailers.
The data company forecasts that grocery sales will hit more than £13bn for the first time ever as households stock up for Christmas celebrations.
It follows its latest figures that showed that sales grew by 6.3% over the four weeks to 26 November 2023 to reach £11.7bn.
There was also evidence of inflation continuing to slow, with Kantar also revealing that the cost of a traditional Christmas dinner for four this year is up by 1.3% versus a year ago and now stands at £31.71.
This tracks well below the headline grocery price inflation rate, which fell to 9.1% for the four weeks to 26 November 2023.
McKevitt added: “The scene is set for record-breaking spend through the supermarket tills this Christmas. The festive period is always a bumper one for the grocers with consumers buying on average 10% more items than in a typical month. Some of the increase, of course, will also be driven by the ongoing price inflation we’ve seen this year.
“The retailers are also battling it out to offer value to consumers during this important month for trading and are doing what they can to keep prices low.”
