Asda and Sainsbury’s growth has surged although Tesco is closing the gap on its archrivals, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Asda reported a 6.2% increase in till roll growth in the 12 weeks to August 5 while Sainsbury’s grew 4.6%.

Asda now holds a stable market share of 17.4%, Sainsbury’s 16.5% while Tesco is down to 30.9% from 31% last year.

Tesco continues to lose market share but at a slower rate than in previous quarters.

Morrisons till roll increased 1.8% while its market share fell from 11.9% last year to 11.7%.

Data for the four weeks to August 5 showed Tesco had the strongest growth of the big four at 5.1%, Asda grew 4.9%, Sainsbury’s 2.7% and Morrisons 1.4%.

The news comes after Nielsen data released last week showed a 3.7% increase in gross sales at Tesco over the four weeks to July 21 ahead of Asda which recorded 3.2% growth.

Kantar noted that while it’s “too early” to say whether the Olympics spurred improved grocery sales, the period does cover the opening week of the Games and a period of improved weather in July.

The premium and discount ends of the market continues to grow. Waitrose’s till roll grew 7.4%, Aldi’s was up 26%, Lidl 11.8% and Iceland 7%. All four retailers grew their market share.

The Co-operative’s market share continued to fall, down to 6.7% from 7.1% last year while till roll growth fell 1.3%.

The grocery market has bounced back from a difficult start to the year and is now growing at 3.9% aided by easing inflation.

Kantar Worldpanel retail analyst Fraser McKevitt said: “Shoppers might not yet notice it at the tills, but they are starting to benefit from lower grocery inflation, with prices now rising at 3.2% – the slowest rate for 18 months and a sign that things are starting to look up.”

He added: “Despite this, consumers are still seeking economy products and retailers are reflecting this demand in their store offerings. The lowest priced own label lines, such as Tesco Everyday Value, are growing at 13% while premium own label sales are falling by 4% year-on-year.”

Kantar Worldpanel total till roll data for the 12 weeks to August 5 below:

 

  12 Weeks to 7 August 2011  12 Weeks to 5 August 2012 change
 £000s%   * £000s %   *%
Total Till Roll    30,392,490     31,175,890 2.6
 Total Grocers          22,909,250100%    23,797,410100%3.9
   Total Multiples            22,378,00097.7%            23,283,47097.8%4.0
      Tesco                7,104,45631.0%                7,344,13630.9%3.4
      Total Asda                3,992,64917.4%                4,137,72617.4%3.6
        Asda                3,896,76517.0%                4,137,72617.4%6.2
        Netto                    95,8840.4%                           -  0.0%-100.0
      Sainsbury’s                3,751,56716.4%                3,922,62916.5%4.6
      Morrisons                2,731,27211.9%                2,780,61211.7%1.8
      The Co-operative                  1,621,0107.1%                1,600,3136.7%-1.3
        Co-operative                  1,613,8517.0%                1,600,2776.7%-0.8
        Somerfield                      7,1580.0%                           360.0%-99.5
      Waitrose                   997,8114.4%                1,071,4734.5%7.4
      Aldi                   555,6912.4%                   700,2502.9%26.0
      Lidl                   603,1262.6%                   674,5682.8%11.8
      Iceland                   443,2501.9%                   474,3082.0%7.0
      Farm Foods                   134,6260.6%                   131,0970.6%-2.6
      Other Multiples                   442,5431.9%                   446,3561.9%0.9
   Symbols & Independents                 531,2552.3%                 513,9442.2%-3.3

Topics