Latest data from Kantar shows that overall grocery sales in Northern Ireland grew by 1.4% over the 52 weeks to 21 April 2019, with higher prices continuing to drive growth.
Commenting on individual retailer performances, Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar, said: “Tesco, which now accounts for 35.2% of grocery retailing north of the border, has enjoyed sales growth of 1.3% over the past year. More than 94% of households shopped at a Tesco store in the past 12 months, demonstrating its firm hold on pole position in Northern Ireland.
“Sainsbury’s has extended the gap between itself and third position with growth of 1.2% driving the retailer to an overall share of 17.3% – ahead of Asda on 17.0%. The number of households which visited Sainsbury’s increased by 8.7% over the past year generating additional sales worth £46.7m.
“While Asda has seen a decline in the overall volume of goods sold this has partly been offset by higher prices and shoppers visiting stores more frequently. Volume sales were down 0.5% overall, and despite value sales growth of 0.7% the retailer’s market share fell by 0.1 percentage point.
“More than 75% of the population shopped at a Lidl over the past year, demonstrating the progress it has made in Northern Ireland as well as in Britain and south of the border. The retailer continues to win share by encouraging shoppers to put more items in their basket each time they shop – with overall volume sales up 6.7%.”
Similar data released yesterday for the grocery market in the Republic of Ireland showed all major retailers growing again after a strong Easter.
