The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar show take-home grocery sales rose by 9.4 per cent during the 12 weeks to 4 October 2020 prior to the current lockdown. However, sales increased quicker, by 10.6 per cent over the latest four weeks.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, commented, “Shoppers are moving a greater proportion of their eating and drinking back into the home. This is likely a response to rising COVID-19 infection rates, greater restrictions on opening hours in the hospitality sector, and the end of the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.”
Despite an increase in COVID-19 transmissions and tightening restrictions, there was only limited evidence of consumers stockpiling goods at a national level over the past month. Fraser McKevitt added, “The seven days from Monday 21 to Sunday 27 September were the busiest since March, with 107 million trips recorded, but that number was nowhere near the 175 million seen just prior to the first national lockdown.”
Online sales in the past month were up 76 per cent on a year ago, with one in five households ordering groceries via the internet, a trend that has benefited Ocado, partly thanks to its new partnership with Marks & Spencer.
Kantar says that Lidl has been in continual double-digit growth since December, accelerating its rate in the past 12 weeks to 11.7 per cent Iceland, which is marking its 50th birthday in November, also had cause for celebration, as growth of 17.3 per cent took its market share to 2.3 per cent Aldi recorded growth of 7.8 per cent and currently holds 8.0 per cent of the market.
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