The latest figures from Kantar show that take-home grocery sales in Ireland grew by 16.3% in the 12 weeks to 21 February 2021.
Growth was even stronger during the past month at 17.7%, the highest level since November 2020, as shoppers spent an additional €151.1 million.
February
Last month brought Valentines’ Day and Shrove Tuesday, and consumers continued to make the most of events they could safely celebrate at home in lockdown.
They spent an additional €3.2 million on boxed chocolates to treat their loved ones in the past 12 weeks and sales of flour, eggs, and syrup grew by 56%, 21%, and 14% respectively as Pancake Day provided entertainment for all ages.
Online grocery sales had another record-breaking month as shoppers ordered €63 million worth of take-home groceries, accounting for 6.3% of all sales. Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar said, “Online’s share of the grocery market has had an extraordinary uplift compared with the pre-pandemic level of 2.7%. Lockdown may well have converted some previously reluctant digital customers long term – 241,500 people made an order in February, compared with 114,800 last year. They are also using services more often, completing 21.7% more digital orders a month.”
As schools begin a phased reopening from the start of March, Irish shoppers are awaiting a timeline for the return of hospitality. Once confirmed, those changes will impact take-home grocery sales in the coming months. Hayes commented that with the reopening of hospitality will come a strong decline for take-home groceries, "something that will likely accelerate once offices and restaurants return."
Market Share
Kantar also released data on market share, which sees SuperValu sit at the top of the table this month as it grew sales by 20.9% to hold a 22.3% share of the market – an increase of 0.9 percentage points. It was the only retailer to attract new shoppers into its stores and its customers traded up when they were there – spending €70 million more on branded goods than this time last year.
Dunnes increased its sales by 9.7% this period as its customers picked up extra items in store and continued to spend more per buyer than at any other retailer at €618.60. This totalled an additional €62.5 million spent over the 12 weeks.
Lidl was once again the fastest-growing retailer at 21.8%, with basket sizes increasing by 14.9% year on year. Aldi customers spent an additional €57.1 million this period, driving 13.4% growth.
Tesco shoppers added an additional 3.6 items to their baskets this period, more than customers at any other retailer, and helped the grocer’s overall sales to rise by 18.0%.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
