Asda only big-four grocer to grow share as Tesco sales plunge, says Kantar Worldpanel

Tesco suffered the biggest market share fall of all the supermarkets, dropping from 30.2% last year to 28.8% in the 12 weeks to August 17.

Morrisons’ share dropped 0.3% to 11% year on year over the period as sales dipped 1.9%. Sainsbury’s share dipped 0.1% to 16.4% despite sales edging up 0.3%

Meanwhile, Asda’s share inched up 0.1% to 17.2% as sales rose 1.2%.

The grocery price war continued to take its toll as price inflation fell for the eleventh consecutive period, standing at 0.2%, the lowest level since Kantar Worldpanel began recording it.

Kantar Worldpanel director Edward Garner said: “Competitive pricing among the big grocers and deflation in the price of staple items such as vegetables, milk and bread has driven inflation down yet again. This naturally impacts on the overall growth of the grocery market, which has fallen to a 10-year record low of 0.8%.”

Aldi and Lidl have maintained their record shares of 4.8% and 3.6% respectively. Market share jumped from 3.7% last year to 4.8% over the period as Aldi and Lidl’s share rose from 3.1% to 3.6%.

Meanwhile, Waitrose’s share edged up 0.1% to 4.9% as sales increased 3.6%

Garner said: “Asda and Waitrose have achieved growth with differing strategies. Asda has pushed its “Price Lock” strategy to keep prices on everyday essential items low, while Waitrose is running competitive offers on home delivery alongside offers for myWaitrose card users allied to its overall quality and provenance positioning.”

** = Percentage Share of Total Grocers