Dunnes Stores has retained its position as Ireland’s largest grocer this month, holding 23% of the market, research shows.
According to the latest figures from Kantar, SuperValu claimed a market share of 22%, while Tesco followed closely behind with 21.9%.
Lidl, which has recently rolled out a new advertising campaign pushing its ‘inflation buster’ prices, now holds a 12.2% share of the grocery market.
The retailer was boosted by new shoppers who contributed an additional €4.1 million to overall sales figures this period.
Aldi also gained market share over the past 12 weeks and now accounts for 11.7% of total sales.
Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar, commented, “Supermarkets have been quick to respond to growing concerns over the cost of living through targeted ad campaigns and voucher schemes. These kinds of tactics will only become more important as grocers battle for the biggest slice of consumer spend in a challenging environment.”
Take-home grocery sales fell by 4.5% over the 12 weeks to 20 February 2022. Nevertheless, spending still remains 11.1% higher than before the pandemic.
Grocery Price Inflation
This drop in spending comes as grocery price inflation over the past 12 weeks hit 2.4%, marking the seventh consecutive month of accelerating inflation. The number of products sold on promotion fell by 10.9% year on year as retailers sought to manage mounting supply costs.
“Prices are rising across the board and that’s really being felt at the grocery tills," Healy said.
We’re now starting to see this reflected in shopper behaviour, with people increasingly opting for private label lines over branded products in an attempt to drive down the cost of their weekly shop.”
Further loosening of COVID-19 restrictions during February contributed to the overall fall in supermarket sales this period as people returned to offices and city centres.
Healy continued, “People are finding their feet in their new routines, with many juggling commuting and socialising again after months at home. Shoppers spent an additional €4.3 million on chilled convenience items like pizzas and ready meals over the latest month, as families turned to quick and easy meal options to feed the kids while schools were out over mid-term week.
"With convenient options on the rise, home baking is clearly lower on shopper’s agendas. Sales of flour, eggs and chocolate spreads were all down 27.6%, 20.6% and 35% respectively in the last four weeks.”
© 2022 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more retail news, click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
