Grocery Market Share Ireland - Price increases hit shoppers hard
The latest grocery market figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 20 February 2011 show shoppers are feeling the pinch from increasing food prices.
Overall market growth slowed slightly this period to 1.6% compared to 1.7% last month. However, shoppers are paying substantially more for their groceries this month, with the price of food increasing by 5.3% compared to 3.9% in the last period. Families already financially stretched have found themselves paying more this month for household staples such as fruit, vegetables and breakfast cereals, which, as well as beer and lager have seen significant hikes in price.
David Berry, Kantar WorldpanelIreland, comments: “Grocery inflation now stands almost 4% ahead of market growth and we expect to see this gap increase as consumers cut back on their spending in three distinct ways. As well as reducing the overall amount of groceries they buy, shoppers are increasingly choosing own label over branded goods, which now account for 34% of money spent on groceries; the highest level we have ever seen. Finally, shoppers are now spending a higher proportion of their weekly shop at the Discounters, reducing the overall amount of money spent.”
The retailers with a strong own label offering have benefited this month, with Tesco, Aldi and Lidl all gaining market share and growing ahead of the market. Aldi posted the strongest growth this month, increasing its sales by 25.7% and growing its market share by 0.6% since this time last year. Similarly Tesco and Lidl achieved sales growth of 4.8% and 3.0% respectively.
Following a successful Christmas trading period, SuperValu has continued to outperform the market increasing its market share to 20.2% from 19.9% last year. SuperValu has recently placed more emphasis on developing its own brand range in recent months, and this has helped the retailer to maintain growth ahead of the market.
At the premium end of the retail spectrum, Superquinn has suffered from consumers cutting back, and Dunnes has also experienced negative sales growth in the latest period.
An update on inflation
Grocery inflation increased to 5.3% for the 12 week ending period 20 February 2011.*
*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.