As seen in Britain, the grocery market in Northern Ireland is experiencing strong growth because of the lockdown.
Data from Kantar shows that total take-home grocery sales grew by 4.4% during the 52 weeks to 17 May 2020. And over the latest 12-week period, growth spiked to 19.7%, as people stocked up pre-lockdown and then continued to eat more meals at home.
Health and hygiene conscious consumers drove up sales of household cleaners and liquid soap by 14.4% and 40.2% respectively over the 52 weeks. With people turning to the kitchen to stay entertained, savoury home cooking increased by 11.7%, with those looking to recreate their favourite restaurant meals boosting sales of international ingredients by 26.6% year-on-year.
Looking individual retailer performances, Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, commented: “Tesco saw sales growth of 4.9% and gained 0.2 percentage points of share in the past 12 months. An influx of new shoppers in the latest period, up 1.3%, and a rise in volume sales, up 0.8%, both contributed to Tesco’s growth this period.
“While basket sizes have continued to grow more strongly at Asda than any other retailer, fewer shoppers coming through its doors meant that sales at Asda decreased slightly by 0.6%. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s was buoyed by a 2.2% increase in shopper frequency as well as a boost in trip size to grow by 4.2%.
“Overall, Lidl remained the strongest performing retailer – increasing its value sales by 9.1% and lifting its market share to 6.2%. This was driven by shoppers placing more items in their baskets, with trip size up 6.1%, and a rise in pack prices, which grew by 2.6% and suggests that shoppers are trading up in store and choosing more premium options.”
Data released yesterday for the Republic of Ireland showed that take-home grocery sales had jumped a record 25.4% during the 12 weeks to 17 May.
NAM Implications:
- Lidl remained the strongest performing retailer – increasing its value sales by 9.1% and lifting its market share to 6.2%.
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