Take-home sales at grocers increased by 2.0 per cent in the four weeks to 6 September 2026, with the back-to-school rush resulting in demand for bread, satsumas and cucumbers.

However, the latest data from Worldpanel by Numerator did highlight that there were 18 million fewer trips to the grocers recorded in the in the four weeks to 6 September 2026, compared to a peak of 497 million in July.

The study credited August’s warm weather, the conclusion to a summer of sport and the return to school and work for a shift in shopping habits.

It stressed the end of the summer holidays typically brings a cooling in trip frequency and a pivot towards priority purchases. While grocery inflation ticked up modestly last month, it remains lower than the levels we saw earlier in the year, giving households some welcome breathing room.

Like-for-like grocery price inflation stood at 2.3 per cent, rising at a faster rate than last month but still remaining relatively subdued.

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Classic lunchtime favourites were a visible presence in shopping baskets, as parents turned their attention back to filling up their children’s lunchboxes.

Sandwiches featured in more than half of all kids’ lunchboxes, and the number of households with children buying loaves of bread rose by more than half a million in the seven days to 6 September compared to the previous week.

The number buying satsumas (+29 per cent) and cucumbers (+21 per cent) also surged in the final week before term time.

Branded goods outpaced own label this month for only the second time in the past year, with sales up 3.7 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent growth for own label – a reversal of a pattern that has defined much of 2026.

Despite this shift, shoppers have kept a strong appetite for promotions. Spending on grocery deals rose £243 million, or 7.0 per cent year on year, significantly outstripping full-price sales growth of just 1.4 per cent.

Photo by Dana Sarsenbekova on Unsplash