Dunnes has claimed the highest share of the Irish grocery market at 22.2%, in the 12 weeks ending 1 November 2020, according to the latest figures from Kantar.
The retailer's sales were particularly strong in Dublin, where shoppers have been living under lockdown since mid-September and spent an additional €38.8 million at the retailer during the period.
The figures showed that grocery sales growth in the capital was the fastest across all regions.
Chilled-convenience categories like pizza and ready meals proved popular at all the retailers, and this was particularly true at SuperValu which boosted sales of the cosy night in favourites by 15% year on year.
Sales at the grocer grew by 18.0% this period and it increased its market share by 0.7 percentage points to 21.9%.
Across The Board
According to Kantar, across the board, growth was driven by shoppers adding a couple of extra essentials to their baskets.
Tesco customers picked up an average of three additional items per shop over the past 12 weeks, the biggest increase in trip volume among all the retailers.
The grocer grew sales by 14.8% to hold a 21.2% market share, the research showed.
As people look for ways to treat themselves at home, Lidl customers spent an additional 50% on branded products in the latest 12 weeks.
The grocer once again achieved the strongest growth among the retailers over the past three months, growing by 21.1% to hold a 12.7% share of the market.
Aldi’s sales grew by 11.7% this period, primarily driven by an increase in spend per buyer and shoppers adding more items to their baskets.
Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, commented: “Irish shoppers spent over €1 billion on take-home groceries in October, €161.6 million more than last year. With dining out officially off the table, and families preparing more meals to eat at home, this was the biggest month for grocery sales since the height of the previous lockdown in June."
"It all feels a far cry from August, when restrictions on eating and drinking out were eased, and the average monthly grocery bill was €200 lower,” she added.
Online Sales
Online grocery sales continue to soar, rising by 90% year on year in the latest four weeks.
“Online grocery continues to set new records, with almost 255,000 of us shopping through digital channels in October. New converts to online grocery contributed an additional €30.8 million to the market in the past month as tighter restrictions were introduced," she said.
Healy highlighted that shoppers also increased the size of their digital trolleys by 9.6%.
Festive Shopping
As the end of the year approaches, consumers are accepting that seasonal traditions and festivities will look a little different this year.
Healy noted: “Halloween was certainly a quieter affair this year and, with trick or treating out of the question, sales of multipack sweets declined by 40% compared with October 2019."
"Sales of pumpkins also dropped by 15.5% as households had less need for the usual welcoming jack-o’-lanterns," she added.
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
