Dunnes Stores continues to lead the Irish market share, while pandemic behaviours across the sector persist, five years on, according to Kantar.
Take-home value sales increased by 4.9% in Ireland over the four weeks to 23 February 2025, compared to the same period last year.
Grocery inflation rose by 0.3 percentage points and now stands at 3.7%, compared to the same 12-week period last year, following recent stability.
Kantar reported this as it examined how consumers’ habits have evolved since the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly five years on from the first lockdown, in March 2020.
Households made fewer visits to supermarkets in February 2025 than they did in the same month in 2020, and the trend for online shopping appears to have stuck as well, with the online channel taking a record 6.9% market share – more than double that of the same period in February 2020, at 2.7%.
Shopper Trends
Kantar points to growing supermarket loyalty schemes offering exclusive discounts as key to attracting and retaining customers.
Spending on promotion grew by 11.6%, with shoppers spending an additional €92 million compared to last year, with promotions now accounting for 23.9% of all sales.
Own-label products represented nearly half (45%) of all grocery value sales, jumping by 3.8% compared to last year, as shoppers spent an additional €62.6 million on these ranges.
Brands performed slightly ahead of the grocery market, growing by 5.6%, compared to last year.
February was busy for retailers, with both Valentine’s Day and a bank holiday, as shoppers spent an additional €14.4 million on chocolate and sweets, and €4.2 million on wine.
Shoppers also prepared for Pancake Tuesday, spending an additional €1.3 million on sweet spreads, when compared to January.
Online sales rose by 14.6%, year on year, with shoppers spending an additional €27.8 million through this channel.
Over the latest 12-week period, the number of online shopping trips increased by 10.4%, alongside shoppers picking up more packs when shopping online, which contributed a combined €22 million to online’s overall performance.
Market Share
Over the latest 12 weeks, Dunnes has held a 24.6% market share, with sales growth of 6.9%, year on year.
The retailer welcomed new shoppers to stores, alongside existing shoppers picking up more per trip, contributing a combined €18.2 million to its overall performance.
Tesco Ireland comes next, with 23.9% of the market and value growth of 6.5%, year on year, as new shoppers and increased trips contributed a combined €27.1 million to its overall performance.
SuperValu holds 20.4% of the market, as its shoppers made the most shopping trips to the grocer, averaging 23.7 trips over the latest 12 weeks.
Lidl Ireland followed, with a 12.8% market share, followed by Aldi Ireland, with 10.9%.
‘Lasting Effects’
Speaking about the results, the business development director at Kantar, Emer Healy, said, “In 2020, we couldn’t have predicted the full extent of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on all of our lives.
“However, five years later, we can see its lasting effects on consumer behaviour.
“Our data shows that habits haven’t fully returned to pre-pandemic norms, and shopping trips remain lower than before.
“Right now, it’s hard to separate the cost-of-living crisis from post-Covid trends, with value-seeking a key consumer focus.
“Despite expectations, shoppers aren’t visiting more stores for deals, averaging only four stores over the past 12 weeks.
“Retailers continue to roll out discounts as a way of easing the pressure on household budgets – and Irish consumers are more than happy to take advantage of them.”
Read More: Dunnes Stores Reaches Record-Level Market Share As Overall Irish Sales Rise – Kantar
