Chinese New Year dates impact on FMCG market growth

The grocery market in China grew at 4.4%, one percentage point below the 2014 annual value growth.

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published for the 12 weeks ending 23rd Jan 2015, show the grocery market in China growing at 4.4%, one percentage point below the 2014 annual value growth and far below the 7.4% growth recorded in 2013.

However, this growth figure has been heavily impacted by the Lunar New Year dates. Whereas last year the pre-holiday spending happened in January, this year the effect is expected to impact on February purchases which will be picked up in the next edition of Kantar Worldpanel’s barometer.

Lunar New Year dates have also impacted on the leading retailers’ market share. Sun Art group maintained its leading position with 9.1% share in the latest 12 weeks, but 0.1 point lower than one year ago. Vanguard group lost 0.5 points due to the loss of shoppers in Tesco stores. Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Lin Hua Groups also lost market share these 12 weeks compared to same period last year.

On the other hand, Yonghui’s has grown its sales and market share compared to the same period one year ago. This growth is powered by its aggressive store expansion which added 54 new stores to the group in 2014. Wu-Mart and WSL Groups also grew their market share.

New Grocery Market Share dataviz

Kantar Worldpanel has launched a new data visualisation tool that allows you to view and analyse Grocery Market Share data online. The latest sales share figures for all of the major grocers can be viewed and compared with historical figures here. All graphics within the Kantar Worldpanel dataviz are available to embed in your site.

*The Grocery Market Share data is derived from Kantar Worldpanel research covering the household grocery purchasing habits of 40,000 demographically representative urban households in China for their consumption at home. All data is based on the value of items being purchased by these consumers. Kantar Worldpanel only supports data published in the context in which it was originally presented. Kantar Worldpanel does not endorse any other interpretation of our data.