SuperValu has returned to pole position with a 22.3% share of the market, the first time the retailer has held top spot alone since July 2017.
The Irish grocery market continuing to perform strongly, with overall sales up 3.1% on last year, the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published for the 12 weeks ending 22 April 2018.
“SuperValu has attracted more shoppers through its doors and persuaded its customers to buy more items per trip. In addition, while performance remains strong in its Munster heartland, SuperValu’s growth in the capital is particularly noteworthy,” said Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel.
“The retailer’s sales in Dublin grew 4.5% compared to last year, second only to Tesco which saw growth of 7.4% in the city.”
Big Savings
In a statement the food retailer said that it has invested substantially in value, investing €15 million in money-off vouchers for its Real Rewards loyalty programme members from January to Easter, along with an upweighted promotional schedule with a new SuperValu Seven Fruit & Veg offer, along with promotions on healthy ranges, meat and fish and ambient products every week.
Commenting on its performance Martin Kelleher, managing director, SuperValu said: “The latest market share data highlights the highly competitive nature of the Irish grocery market, underlining the fact that shoppers know who offers the best value and quality and are voting with their feet by coming to SuperValu."
Close Second And Third
The report showed that Tesco and Dunnes follow closely in second and third places with 22.2% and 21.9% share of the market share.
“Tesco has continued to build on its strong start to 2018. Overall sales are up by 6.1%, almost twice that of the market as a whole. While Tesco’s performance in Dublin is strong the rest of Leinster contributed the most to growth, with the retailer’s share jumping from 26.1% to 28%,” Faughnan added.
“In contrast, Dunnes’ impressive share growth in Connaught and Ulster was offset by a drop in the Dublin region, where share fell from 26.2% to 24.8%.”
Increased Sales
Lidl and Aldi were the second and third fastest growing retailers this period, with sales up 4.2% and 3.0% respectively.
Lidl’s growth was predominantly driven by its sales in Leinster (excluding Dublin), whereas Aldi experienced a strong 12 weeks in Munster, Connaught and Ulster.
Faughnan outlined that over the past 12 months Irish households have consolidated their spend, relying more heavily on their preferred retailer. This effectively means that most of the grocers were seeing fewer shoppers through their doors, however, this period marks a notable turnaround with Tesco, SuperValu, Aldi and Lidl all attracting more shoppers than they did a year ago.
“A 3.1% increase in the number of shoppers visiting Tesco generated additional revenue of €13 million and contributed significantly to the retailer’s overall performance. Although increased shopper numbers driving growth for the other retailers was less significant, it does mark a reversal in recent shopper behaviour,” he added.
According to the research, over the period frozen food sales proved a lucrative source of revenue for the traditional retailers.
Sales of frozen food at Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes outpaced those off fresh, chilled and ambient food and drink while overall frozen sales rose 7.3%, in line with Iceland’s continued expansion in Ireland. The British retailer has attained a 6.3% share of frozen sales, driven by increased footfall through further store openings.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
