Coronavirus stockpiling sees grocery sales rocket beyond Christmas spend

Sales across the wider grocery market grew by 20.6% year on year in March, the biggest increase on record according to the latest data from Kantar. During the period customers spent more than £10.8bn on groceries, which was more than is spent at Christmas.

Over the last 12 weeks, supermarket sales grew at the fastest rate in more than a decade, up 7.6%.

The explosion in sales was driven by people shopping more frequently and buying slightly more, with the average UK household spending an extra £62.92 at the supermarket over the last four weeks.

UK consumers made 42 million additional trips to the supermarket between March 16 and March 19. In London, which is considered the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, shoppers increased visits by 26% in March.

Grocery spend online also saw a surge, up 13% compared to the same period in 2019. Online basket sizes also grew to £81.88, up more than £6 compared to March 2019.

Kantar said all of the largest food retailers saw simultaneous growth over the last quarter, something not seen since October 2018.

Sainsbury’s saw the biggest sales growth of the big four, up 7.4%. Tesco saw a 5.5% increase, followed by 4.9% at Asda and 4.6% at Morrisons.

Lidl was the fastest growing discounter with sales up 17.6%, increasing its market share by 0.5 percentage points to 6.1% in the process. Aldi reached a record high market share of 8.2% with sales growth of 11%.

Iceland saw sales rocket 11.7%, while the Co-op’s extensive network of convenience stores saw its sales increase 9.4%. Waitrose sales grew at their fastest rate since November 2013, up 7.5%.

Despite Ocado’s struggles with meeting increased online grocery demand, Kantar said it still acquired 133,000 new customers over the last 12 weeks, boosting its sales 12.5%.

Sales at independent retailers and chains such as Spar, Nisa and Costcutter also rose collectively by 16.1% during the period.

Head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Fraser McKevitt said: “It has been an extraordinary month and social distancing measures have had a profound impact on all our daily lives – from the way we work and socialise, to how we shop and care for our loved ones.

“Retailers and their staff have been on the frontline as households prepare for an extended stay at home, with grocery sales amounting to £10.8bn during the past four weeks alone – that’s even higher than levels seen at Christmas, the busiest time of year under normal circumstances.”