Each of the big four saw sales decline in the run-up to the Christmas period according to the latest market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, but Sainsbury’s posted the smallest year-on-year decline of the major supermarkets.
Total grocery sales for the 12 weeks to 5 January were 0.6% higher year-on-year – an improvement from the 0.1% growth seen in the 12 weeks to 8 December.
There was a spread of just 0.9 percentage points separating the sales growth of the big four, but Sainsbury’s sales held up the most robustly of the major multiples.
Sainsbury’s saw a 0.7% decline in sales over the period, edging its market share down from 17.1% to 16.9%.
That is enough to put Sainsbury’s back to the number two position in the grocery sector as Asda’s sales slipped 1.6% over the 12 weeks to drop its market share to 16.8% from 17.1% in the same period last year.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, commented: “Sainsbury’s traditionally performs well at Christmas, and its seasonal boost this year means it is now Britain’s second largest grocer for the first time since it lost the position in 2003. Given the seasonal nature of this share increase there is a high likelihood that Asda will retake the number two spot later in the year.”
Asda was the joint poorest performer over the period, tied with Morrisons which was also down 1.6% to take its market share to 11.5%. Tesco experienced a 1.2% sales decline to drop its market share 0.5 percentage points to 29.1%.
The big winner over the period looks to be Waitrose, which saw strong 6.6% sales growth to grow its market share from 4.8% to 5.1%.
The discounters were once again in double-digit growth. Aldi’s sales were up 22.6% over the period (a higher figure the 22.3% Kantar Worldpanel recorded for the three months to 8 December), growing its market share to 4.8%. Lidl’s sales rose 15.1%, but that was well down on the 18.3% growth Kantar recorded last month.
Elsewhere, The Co-op lost 2.4% of its sales to trim its market share to 5.9%, while Iceland was 0.4% down.
McKevitt, added: “Shoppers were the big winners at Christmas with cheaper grocery prices encouraging them to spend more at the tills. Like-for-like prices have fallen by 0.9% due to lower commodity costs and an ongoing price war which has continued as the large retailers battle for market share.”
| Kantar Worldpanel - Total Till Roll (GB Consumer Spend) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 weeks to 05 January 2014 | 12 Weeks to 04 January 2015 | % Change | |||
| £millions | % | £millions | % | % | |
| Total Grocers | 27,217 | 100.0% | 27,388 | 100.0% | 0.6% |
| Total Multiples | 26,698 | 98.1% | 26,882 | 98.2% | 0.7% |
| Tesco | 8,062 | 29.6% | 7,962 | 29.1% | -1.2% |
| Asda | 4,664 | 17.1% | 4,588 | 16.8% | -1.6% |
| Sainsbury’s | 4,654 | 17.1% | 4,622 | 16.9% | -0.7% |
| Morrisons | 3,133 | 11.5% | 3,084 | 11.3% | -1.6% |
| The Co-operative | 1,656 | 6.1% | 1,617 | 5.9% | -2.4% |
| Waitrose | 1,313 | 4.8% | 1,399 | 5.1% | 6.6% |
| Aldi | 1,078 | 4.0% | 1,322 | 4.8% | 22.6% |
| Lidl | 836 | 3.1% | 962 | 3.5% | 15.1% |
| Iceland | 601 | 2.2% | 598 | 2.2% | -0.4% |
| Other Multiples | 701 | 2.6% | 727 | 2.7% | 3.8% |
| Symbols & Independents | 519 | 1.9% | 506 | 1.8% | -2.6% |
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