Dunnes Stores has held steady as the nations number one grocer, research shows.
This time a year ago the Irish retailer overtook Tesco to become Ireland's top supermarket and it is showing no signs of slowing down.
Dunnes currently holds a 1.3% point lead over its next largest competitor, the biggest differential it has enjoyed since February 2019, the latest figures from Kantar for the 12 weeks ending 6 October 2019, showed.
“It has been a big year for Dunnes," said Charlotte Scott, consumer insight director at Kantar.
"Its continued success, evidenced by 5.5% sales growth in the past 12 weeks, has largely been driven by its Shop & Save voucher campaign.”
SuperValu also enjoyed a marked boost in sales over the past 12 weeks, doubling its growth rate to 2.0% which helped it to overtake Tesco and become the second largest retailer for the first time since December 2018, the research showed.
“Ireland’s two largest retailers, Dunnes and SuperValu, have both benefited from an out of season boom in sales of cleaning products," Scott highlighted.
Cleaning Up
Scott said that overall people have been indulging in a spot of seasonal ‘autumn cleaning’, perhaps thanks to the popularity of internet sensation Mrs Hinch and being kept indoors by the recent wet weather.
"Overall people have spent an additional €7.2 million on household cleaning in the past 12 weeks, which is up 5.9% on last year and driven by Ireland’s two largest retailers.” She added.
Sweet Success
Despite falling behind SuperValu in the retailer rankings, Tesco enjoyed a return to growth this period, with shoppers making an extra trip compared to last year.
According to the research, confectionery has been a key category for Tesco, and is growing at an impressive 31.1%.
“Tesco individually accounts for 70% of the market growth of confectionery, which has increased in value by 9.9% in the past 12 weeks," she explained.
"The retailer’s promotion on tubs of sweets, pricing them at €3.99, has proved particularly popular and it has even had to put quotas in place to limit shoppers to a maximum of 4 per person."
New Record
Aldi reached a new record market share at 12.6% this period – continuing its strong performance and growing by 10.9%.
It has welcomed an additional 21,000 shoppers through its doors, with a particular push to target young families. Charlotte
"Traditionally, Aldi’s core shoppers are young and mid-range families, with these customers still a third more likely to shop at the retailer than any other group," Scott said.
"However, growth among these groups has slowed to 0.8%, as the cohort has cut back on its overall spending by 1.4%."
Lidl’s performance at a total level has also improved, with sales up 4.9% and its market share increasing to 11.9%.
Overall the figures show that the Irish grocery market remains buoyant, with growth accelerating to 3.3% during the period.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
