UK grocery costs continue to rise
British shoppers are increasingly looking for deals and value as the cost of groceries continues to rise.
Take-home sales at the grocers grew by 4.1% over the four weeks to 5 October versus last year, according to new data from Kantar shows. Like-for-like grocery price inflation rose to 5.2%, matching the level recorded in July.
“Households are juggling a lot of different things when choosing what and where to buy their groceries. Inevitably, cost will be up towards the top of the list as price rises accelerate,” the group said.
“Spending on offers has hit its highest level since April at 29.4%, as consumers hunt for deals to ease the burden on their wallets. Promotions often jump in the run-up to the festive season, so it’s likely the trend will continue as we get closer to December.”
A surge in online sales
Online sales at the grocers grew by 12% compared with the same four weeks last year, making up 12.7% of the market – the highest share since March 2022.
Over one in five British households did their grocery shopping online at some point in September, marking a return to the popularity seen in the latter stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Online specialist Ocado remains Britain’s fastest growing grocer, with sales rising by 13.6% over the 12 weeks to 5 October versus the same period a year ago.
The retailer now holds a 2.0% share, matching its previous record high. Lidl also saw double digit growth, as sales grew by 10.8%. This takes the discounter’s market share to 8.2%, up by 0.5 percentage points.
Tesco once again made the biggest share gain, climbing by 0.7 percentage points to take 28.3% of the market. Spending through its tills increased by 6.9%. Sainsbury’s boosted its sales by 5.2% and lifted its market share to 15.3%.
Aldi maintained its 10.6% portion of the market as spending rose by 4.3%, while Waitrose’s share held stable at 4.4% after increasing sales by 3.7%.
Asda and Morrisons now take 11.8% and 8.3% of the market respectively. Market share for convenience specialist Co-Op stands at 5.4%, while spending at Iceland outpaced the market as it retained 2.3% of overall spending. Sales of groceries at M&S were 7.7% higher over the 12 weeks.
