Grocery Market Share Ireland - Value For Money Drives Growth Of Own Brand Groceries

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland for the 12 weeks ending 5 August 2012 show the Irish grocery market has fallen by 0.9% over the past year. As a result discount retailers and own brands are capturing more market share.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Value for money remains at the top of the agenda for shoppers who are becoming more selective about which products they buy and where they buy them. This has meant we have seen a surge in sales of retailer own brand goods across most categories, with everyday staples such as bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits and soft drinks doing well in particular. In fact, over the past two years ambient own label ranges like these have gained an additional four share points within the total market.”

Discounters continue to benefit from consumers watching their wallets, with retailers Aldi and Lidl now accounting for 12.4% of the total market. SuperValu has also performed well this period, posting growth of 0.3%, while Superquinn’s market share has remained solid at 5.5%, which is consistent with its position from last month.

David adds: “Tesco continues to perform strongly, posting sales growth of 3%. This is fuelled in part by a rise in a ‘little and often’ approach to grocery shopping which is driving customers through the doors more regularly. The economic imperative to reduce waste has led to an extra 3.9 million shopping trips over the latest quarter when compared to last year, although the challenge for the market is that each trip has reduced in value by over €1.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.1%* for the 12 week period ending 5 August 2012, down from 2.7% in the previous period but significantly below the 4.4% seen in August 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 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.

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