SuperValu has held its position as the largest supermarket in Ireland – growing sales by 0.9{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} year-on-year – despite the continued strong performance from Tesco, according to the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland.
The figures were published yesterday for the 12 weeks ending September 10, 2017. SuperValu, while still dominant, took a slight decrease from the 22.2{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} market share reported in the last report in August.
Commenting on the findings, David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “SuperValu remains the largest grocer with a market share of 22.1{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}, although strong sales growth from Tesco (22{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}) – the highest Tesco has achieved since April 2012 – has helped narrow SuperValu’s lead to just 0.1{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}.
“Tesco saw sales grow by an impressive 4.3{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} during the past 12 weeks, compared to the same time last year.
Although prices have fallen overall at the grocer, this has been countered by spending increasing – the average shopper spent €15 more with Tesco than the same period last year.
“As it celebrates its fifth consecutive period of growth, Tesco’s fortunes certainly seem to have shifted,” Berry added.
Deflation eased slightly compared to the previous month, now at 0.4{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}, although falling prices weren’t enough to stymie overall grocery market growth – which is up 2.3{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} year-on-year.
Berry noted: “As Irish families head back to school, we’ve seen strong performance from a number of lunchbox staples.
“Sales of cooked meats and bread increased by 3.7{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} and 3.6{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} respectively, while crisps posted a particularly strong sales increase – up 12.1{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}.”
Ranked in third place, Dunnes Stores has retained its share of the market steady at 21.6{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} year-on-year.
Highlighting this, Berry said: “Performance has been mixed for Dunnes during the latest quarter. Although spending per trip has increased by 5{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}, the percentage of the population visiting the store actually dropped by 5{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} during the same period.
The challenge now will be attracting those lost shoppers back to the supermarket – a vital step if Dunnes is to improve its market share ranking.
Both Aldi and Lidl increased sales year-on-year – up by 3.3{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} and 2.4{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} respectively. Lidl held its market share steady at 11.8{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}, while Aldi grew market share by 0.1{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1} to a figure of 11.6{b28040870e2dde01f25bc5b483275391226143b34751c4bb8f1feeecaec925a1}.
