Irish grocery sales were up 6.5% in January 2025 on promotions as Dunnes Stores reached record-level market share following Storm Éowyn, according to Kantar.
Data from the market researcher showed that take-home value sales over the four weeks to 26 January 2025 increased by 6.5% compared to the same period last year, despite grocery price inflation increasing 3.4%.
This inflation increase was slightly lower than the one seen in December.
January also saw shoppers returning to stores more often, making 23 trips on average, but picking up less volume per trip, which was down 1.6% compared to last year.
Alongside promotions, shoppers continued to spend in January on own label products in an effort to keep costs down.
These products saw a 6.9% jump in sales compared to last year, with an additional €103.9 million spent on those ranges.
Overall, own label products hold 44% value market share. Brands also saw growth this year, though it was behind total market at 5.3% compared to last year.
In addition to this, health and wellness were of key concern for shoppers, with an additional €8.9 million spend on fresh fruit and vegetables combined, as well as an 8.6% boost in healthcare spend compared to last year.
Customers also eased off alcohol following Christmas, with spend on no- and low-alcohol products increasing by over 47%.
Online sales rose by 14.5% year-on-year as shoppers spent an additional €27.4 million through the channel.
Over the latest 12-week period, the number of online shopping trips increased by 11.7% while new shoppers moved to online, with 19% of Irish households purchasing online.
Market Share
At the end of January, Storm Éowyn saw the first nationwide red weather warning since 2017, leading consumers to stock up on necessities.
As a result, Tesco Ireland (+8.9%), Dunnes Stores (+8.1%) and SuperValu (+8.5%) outperformed the total market throughout January (+6.5%).
The storm’s impact was also evident in the grocers’ performance in the 12-week data up to January 2025.
Dunnes Stores reached a new record 25% market share with sales growth of 7% year-on-year, as shoppers increased the number of trips while picking up more each time, contributing to a combined €39.2 million in the retailer’s overall performance.
Tesco Ireland came next with 24.1% of the market and 6.5% value growth year-on-year, followed by SuperValu at 20.3% of the market at 4.2% growth.
Lidl Ireland holds 12.4% of the market with total spending up 4.7%.
Aldi Ireland has 10.7% of the market – up 4.5%versus las year, with an increase in trips contributing an additional €13.3 million to its performance.
‘Easing Pressure’
Speaking about the results, business development director at Kantar Emer Healy said, “Supermarkets were rolling out discounts in the New Year as a way of easing pressure on household budgets – and Irish consumers were more than happy to take advantage of them.
“Spending on promotion rose by 8.4% with shoppers spending an additional €72 million versus last year.
“This is the highest level of sales on promotion we’ve seen since February 2021.
“Dry January was in full swing this year with 6.2% of all Irish households purchasing non-alcoholic drinks in January.
“Sales of low- and no-alcohol soared by over 47% with shoppers spending an additional €620,000 during the month versus last year.
“However, not everyone took part in Dry January this year as shoppers also spent an additional €7 million on beer and cider.”
