M&S and Waitrose neck-and-neck in market share as Christmas approaches

M&S is matching Waitrose in market share as Christmas approaches, according to one leading monthly monitor of grocery sales.

Both had a 3.7% share in the 12 weeks to 2 November, according to NIQ.

It’s the second month in a row the pair have been neck-andneck at 3.7% in NIQ’s data, after Waitrose slipped back from 3.8% in September.

Waitrose was also on 3.8% a year ago, while M&S was on 3.4%.

M&S was the second fastest-growing bricks & mortar grocer in the latest 12-week period, with sales up 11.4% year on year, behind Lidl’s 11.9% and Ocado’s 16.1%.

NIQ’s data comes alongside said new M&S grocery sales figures from Kantar, which are not usually published but have been seen by The Telegraph. Kantar’s numbers have M&S ahead of Waitrose, holding a 4.03% share of the grocery market in the four weeks to 3 November, up from 3.76% a year earlier.

Waitrose’s share was 3.91% during the same period, down from 4.02% a year ago.

It is the first time M&S has overtaken Waitrose in Kantar’s numbers outside the Christmas period.

M&S last week posted an 8.1% year-on-year rise in food sales in its first half to 28 September. Its trading update put its share in food at 3.7% in the 12 weeks to 29 September. 

The retailer yesterday held its capital markets day for investors, in which it announced the launch of a new online food catalogue, which has already gone live on its website.

It aims to “drive discovery and availability”, according to M&S’s presentation, by showcasing the latest ranges in store. It also lets shoppers check availability in their nearest store. 

Recent changes in stores include the rollout of self-checkouts designed for the full trolley shop, occupying as much space as a staffed checkout and including a conveyor belt.

Referred to as ‘assisted belted checkouts’, they have recently reached 45 Food Halls and are rolling out to more, following a single-store pilot at London Colney in 2022.

The aim is to give customers choice, according to M&S, with traditional staffed checkouts still available alongside the new tech.

A Food Hall visited by The Grocer, in a full-line M&S store in Shoreham, West Sussex, had recently gained six of the new self-checkouts, with four staffed checkouts remaining, along with the established style of self-checkouts catering for basket shops.

The Grocer recently revealed that Sainsbury’s was trialing similar new checkouts in its stores in Cobham and Witney.