Grocery sales fall for first time in two decades
19/11/2014
Grocery sales have fallen for the first time in two decades, according to a report from Kantar Worldpanel.
Kantar Worldpanel, an international company dealing in consumer knowledge and insights based on continuous consumer panels, have produced a report that shows that for the first time since their records began in 1994, the British grocery market has fallen into decline, with sales down 0.2% compared with this time last year. Price competition between rival supermarkets has also pushed prices down by 0.4%, and the fall in grocery inflation was at another record low.
Asdas sales are down by 0.2% this year, Sainsburys 2.5%, Morrisons 3.3% and Tescos with the lowest fall of 3.7%. Although Tesco had the highest fall in sales, they still have the biggest share of the market at 28.7%.
The fall in sales has been linked to discount supermarkets and reduced revenue as supermarkets competitively cut prices.
In contrast, Aldi sales have jumped by more than 25% from last year. It now has a record market share of 4.9%.
Lidl also did well, with its market share hitting 3.5% following a 16.8% rise in sales - slightly lower growth than the previous three months.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said:
“The declining grocery market will be of concern to retailers as they gear up for the key Christmas trading season. The fight for a bigger share of sales has ignited a price war which means an average basket of everyday goods such as milk, bread and vegetables now costs 0.4% less than it did this time last year. This is bad news for retailers, but good news for shoppers with price deflation forecast to continue well into 2015.”
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