Kantar Worldpanel’s latest snapshot of the supermarket wars came out today – and there was, as ever, plenty to pick over.

In many ways, today’s figures reaffirm trends we’ve seen for much of this year: Sainsbury’s is the only one of the big four to hang on to its market share; Lidl, Aldi and Waitrose display stonking sales growth; and Morrisons is staging a mini-revival.

To take these trends in reverse order, we have commented already on the certain spring we’ve detected in Dalton Philips’ step; these latest figures – a 1.8% growth in sales year on year, compared with a 1.7% drop back in January – will doubtless give the Morrisons boss reason to believe his strategy is working. “There is quite a clear trend established this year with each period going from negative to positive,” says Kantar analyst Edward Garner. Is Morrisons’ store refit programme finally paying dividends?

Meanwhile, who wouldn’t kill for year-on-year sales growth of 10.9%, 10.9% and 29.8%? Those are the stats recorded for Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi in the 12 weeks to 7 July. Evidence, perhaps, of the market polarising between ‘posh’ and, well, not so posh. But the trend is clear: the discounters are continuing to make inroads. “Both Aldi and Lidl are very sharp and aggressive operators,” says Garner, while suggesting the phenomenon of the “urban Aldi” could be on the cards, after the retailer unveiled a smaller-sized store on Kilburn High Road. “There are plenty of sites on the high street that are ripe for the picking.” But can Aldi and Lidl convince shoppers they have the breadth and depth of products to become the main, rather than top-up, shop?

Which brings us to Sainsbury’s. Its market share is hovering at about 16.5%, with sales growing at 3.8% - well ahead of its immediate rivals. “Rather than just bashing away on price”, Garner believes, it is also putting out good messages on quality and ethical sourcing: “It’s a nice balancing act. They are embracing the middle ground.” The retailer has got itself into “a clever place”.

Sainsbury’s success in walking this tightrope perhaps suggests the market isn’t as polarised as all that: shoppers are still looking for the right mix of price and quality – and, preferably, all under one roof. For the retailers, it’s a case of finding their own clever places.

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