Grocery shoppers saved themselves £1.3bn through promotional spending over Easter, as inflation fell for the 14th month in a row.
Spending on promotional items made up 29.3% of all supermarket sales, the highest level seen outside of Christmas since June 2021, over the four weeks to April 14, according to the latest grocery market share data from Kantar.
Head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Fraser McKevitt said: “We’ve been monitoring steady annual growth in promotions over the past 11 months as retailers respond to consumers’ desire for value.
“Deals helped shoppers save a massive £1.3bn in the latest four weeks, almost £46 per household. This emphasis on offers, coupled with falling prices in some categories like toilet tissues, butter and milk, has helped to bring the rate of grocery inflation down for shoppers at the till.”
Grocery price inflation fell to 3.2% over the period, while overall home grocery sales rose by 3.3% in the month.
An early Easter didn’t dent seasonal sales, as spending on confectionary topped £100m for the first time ever in the week up to and including Easter Sunday.
“Higher prices have played a role in reaching that record spend figure, but the number of chocolate eggs sold in the seven days to Easter was also 3% higher this spring than last, with 37% of consumers buying one in that week. Hot cross buns were even more popular, enjoyed by 45% of Britons,” said McKevitt.
“The growth in confectionery also reflects a broader trend towards snacking in British diets. Over the past decade, there’s been an increase in almost all types of snacks. Consumers munched on chocolate confectionery 93 million more times in the year to June 2023 than in the 12 months to June 2013. Fruit has also bumped up the list of Britain’s snack choices – 314 million more pieces of fruit were eaten between meals in 2023 than in 2013.”
Ocado fastest growing for second month
Pureplay grocer Ocado topped the growth charts for the second straight month, with sales improving 12.5% in the 12 weeks to April 14, ahead of the total online market which grew 6.8%.
Ocado accounted for 1.9% of the total market in the period, up from 1.7% this time last year, with online market penetration reaching 12% for the first time since July 2022.
Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s gained 0.4 percentage points of share in the 12-week period, with Sainsbury’s sales jumping 6.8% ahead of Tesco’s 5.9%.
Lidl achieved a record 8% of market share, with sales up 9.1%. Aldi reclaimed its 10% market share in the period, with sales increasing just 2.8%.
Morrisons market share remained flat at 8.7%, the best performance for the grocer since 2021 with sales up by 3.8%. Waitrose and Iceland retained their market share positions at 4.5% and 2.2%, respectively.
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