The latest figures from Kantar show that SuperValu continues to hold the highest grocery retail market share at 22.3%, during the 12 weeks to 9 August 2020.
SuperValu remains the only retailer to attract new shoppers this period, contributing an additional €624,000 to its growth, the research shows.
According to the figures, Tesco took second place with a 21.1% market share.
Bigger baskets, with volumes up 25%, and higher average prices drove growth for Tesco this month.
It was a similar story for Dunnes – the retailer again recorded the highest average spend per trip, while also experiencing an increase in volumes and higher average prices to hold a 20.5% market share, the data shows.
Aldi recorded strong growth of 18.4% this month. Meanwhile it has been a busy few weeks for Lidl, which launched its rewards scheme Lidl Plus and achieved the strongest growth rate of all the major retailers this period, helping it to its highest ever market share of 12.8%.
Overall Sales Growth
According to Kantar, overall take-home grocery sales growth in Ireland slowed to 18.0% year on year.
While still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, grocery spend of €930 million over the latest four weeks was the lowest since February as the country eases out of lockdown, the research shows.
“With restrictions on movement and eating out lifting, grocery spend is climbing down from the record-breaking heights we saw in previous months. A year-on-year comparison shows that shoppers still visited stores four fewer times over the 12 weeks, but trends are less stark than they were at the peak of lockdown," said Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar.
“The relaxing of rules across much of Ireland means shoppers are less inclined to favour large, infrequent shops. People spent approximately €5 less per trip over the past four weeks compared with April, picking up fewer items in store as they start to return to pre-COVID-19 habits,” she added.
Online Sales Soars
Online sales continued to accelerate, over the latest 12 weeks.
A staggering growth rate of over 125% drove the channel to a record market share of 4.6% of total sales this period, contributing an additional €75.1 million to the market.
Branded Groceries
During the period, Aldi and Lidl have both seen branded sales soar, during the period.
“Economic uncertainty and predictions of recession have failed to dampen consumer appetite for branded groceries," Healy noted.
"Brands have managed to capture an impressive proportion of consumer spend over the latest period, amounting to an additional €245 million and outpacing private label to grow by 23.4%. It suggests that people are choosing to treat themselves in store with little luxuries while we’re all spending more time at home,” she added.
© 2020 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
