Marks and Spencer’s food retail business has built on a strong 2023 in the early weeks of the new year, new data from NIQ has shown.
The market researcher said Marks & Spencer’s grocery sales rose 11.6% in the 12 weeks to 27 January year-on-year. This strong performance is second only to discount retailer Lidl, where sales rose 13.2% in the same period.
This also marked Lidl as Britain’s fastest-growing grocery retailer.
The market leader Tesco saw sales growth of 6.9% while the number two retailer Sainsbury’s achieved 8.4% growth.
Asda and Morrisons trailed behind with sales growth of 2.7% and 3.4% respectively, the data showed.
Year-On-Year
Over the four weeks to 27 January, total sales at UK supermarkets rose 6.6% year-on-year, according to NIQ. Food inflation was at its lowest rate since January 2022, at 6.1%.
Echoing data from market researcher Kantar, NIQ said promotional activity accounted for 23% of sales, down from 26% over the Christmas period.
The researcher added that online grocery maintained its share of 11.2% of total grocery spend.
Separately, data from the British Retail Consortium, showed retailers reported sluggish overall sales in January as shoppers remained cautious about spending.
The data highlighted how high inflation and borrowing costs are continuing to weigh on households.
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