Strong growth for Lidl as Tesco's decline slows

Lidl increased sales by 8.1% in the past 12 weeks. This was closely followed by Dunnes, who grew sales by 6.7%.

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 19 July, show a growth in year-on-year sales of 1.1% across the grocery market. Lidl posted the strongest sales growth, for the 2nd period in a row, increasing sales by 8.1% in the past 12 weeks. This was closely followed by Dunnes, who grew sales by 6.7%.

David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Competition is increasingly intense within the grocery market with price reductions and money-off vouchers becoming the norm. The strongest performer has been Lidl, with impressive sales growth lifting its share of the market to an all-time high of 9.0%. The discounter has recruited a record number of customers this quarter, with 66% of all Irish householders visiting Lidl at least once during this time.”

The ‘Shop & Save’ campaign continues to boost sales for Dunnes, with shoppers buying and spending more per shop. Larger shopping trips, during which shoppers are spending in excess of €100, have contributed to a sales growth of 6.7%, the highest level achieved by Dunnes in over five years. In turn his has helped to boost the retailer’s share of the market by more than one percentage point to 22.3%.

David Berry continues: “Tesco continues to hold onto the top spot, although its market share has dipped below 25% as shoppers spend slightly less in store. However, there are signs that Tesco’s decline in sales are levelling off following a difficult two years, and the fall of 1.5% this quarter is the most positive performance the retailer has seen since April 2013. The retailer is starting to successfully bring in more shoppers, with an additional 10,000 households visiting the retailer in the past quarter compared with last year.”

Following fierce competition with Tesco for the top spot earlier this year SuperValu remains the second biggest retailer, performing in line with last year and capturing 24.3% of grocery sales. Aldi continue to grow sales, with a 5% increase lifting market share to 8.6%. However, fierce competition between the retailers has meant its rate of growth has dropped back in recent months. 

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 and all graphics within the Kantar Worldpanel dataviz are available to embed in your site. (Optimal viewing in recent versions of Internet Explorer or Chrome)