Marks & Spencer and Waitrose gain food sales, Nielsen reports

Marks & Spencer’s share improved year on year from 4% to 4.1% in the 12 weeks to November 27 when the value of sales climbed by 5.7%, according to Nielsen Homescan Total Till figures.

Waitrose’s share rose from 3.9% to 4.1% in the same period, when the value of sales jumped by 9%.

Tesco generated value sales growth of 4.1%, Asda 3.7%, and Morrisons 1.9%.

Sainsbury’s was a strong performer, increasing market share from 16.3% to 16.7% and sales value by 6.8%.

Grocery multiples overall generated growth of 4.8%. Nielsen retailer services senior manager Mike Watkins said: “Shopper spend is being promotionally pushed rather than consumer led, so it is no surprise that year on year sales improved to around the 5% mark in November.

“There is an indication that sales in some categories may have be brought forward by one or two weeks at the end of November due to the increased level of promotions.”

Watkins said that the final week of the period was very strong for out-of-town stores, indicating Christmas stockpiling. He observed: “As we saw earlier in the year, the weather situation will have led to more consumers turning to their local sores for essential supplies so for early December we will likely see uplift in the convenience sector.”