Ocado and Lidl continue to dominate as the fastest-growing retailers in the UK, according to new data from the NIQ.

Retailers enjoyed a boost from summer, with overall total till sales going up to 5.8% in July compared to 3.8% in the month prior, driven by increased shopping over the summer heatwave.

In the last four weeks, which ended on 12 July, Ocado’s and Lidl’s growth surged by 13.1% and 10.3%, respectively.

Supermarket giants Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose also experienced significant growth in sales at 5%, 4.9%, and 4.8%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Asda fell behind with a 2.3% decline in sales, and Morrisons brought in a modest 0.7% increase.

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, said: “While Asda sales are still in decline, the trend is improving.

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“Despite the average spend per visit being down due to the deflationary impact of rollback prices, there are green shoots of recovery as the percentage of shoppers visiting Asda held at just over 50% over the last 12 weeks.

“And in the last four weeks, visits were up just over 5%, which is in line with the industry.”

Discounters are gaining traction amid the squeeze on household budgets due to inflation, with FMCG sales going up by 8.7% and nearly two-thirds of UK households shopping at Aldi or Lidl within the past four weeks.

Additionally, the data revealed the number of items per shopping trip declined by 4%, which was offset by a 5.6% increase in the number of shopping occasions.

The warmer temperatures led to a push in sales for seasonal products, with cider’s value increasing by 11.2% while fresh cream went up by 13.8%. Other summer essentials, including soft drink and frozen food’s sales went up by 21% and 12% respectively.