UK shoppers spent a total of £50.2 billion on FMCG products in the first quarter of 2024, according to data published by NIQ last week.
FMCG spend went up by 6.2%, compared to the same period last year.
The data comes from the NIQ Retail Spend Barometer, powered by GfK intelligence, which measures the turnover in sales of FMCG and non-food consumer products sold in retail stores across the UK.
The report provides a complete overview of spending in the FMCG sector and the tech-and-durables (T&D) sector in the UK.
Trends
According to NIQ, although consumers remain cautious, slowing food inflation (down to 3.7% in March) has enabled shoppers to add more items to their baskets.
This change has helped drive volume growth throughout Q1 2024 for the first time since Q1 2021.
Unit growth was driven by fresh and perishable food (6.8%), due to its faster drop in inflation.
Thanks to slowing price increases, there was a slowdown of value growth from 7.1% in Q4 2023 to 6.2% in Q1 2024, despite an improved volume trend.
Cautious shoppers remain a key influence on purchasing decisions, as private-label FMCG continues to outpace branded growth, and 23.4% of all spend in Q1 2024 was sold on promotion.
This was an increase from the 20.1% recorded in Q1 2023.
The change signals an extremely competitive market for retailers that continue to try and persuade shoppers of their price credentials.
Discounters’ value growth for Q1 (4.5%) has lagged behind traditional retailers (7.1%) for the first time since 2021.
The data also revealed that the T&D market experienced a 2.6% value decline in Q1 2024, to £18.3 billion.
This was driven by a drop in sales for tech consumer goods (-4.9%), including mobile phones and home appliances.
This is likely the result of the economic and political environment and exacerbated by a lack of new products entering the market.
‘Cautiously Optimistic’
Ben Morrison, the retail services director for UK and Ireland at NIQ, said of the results, “It’s clear that there’s been a steady uplift in sales for FMCG, particularly as inflation continues to slow.
“The prospect for the rest of the year is cautiously optimistic.
“We see the reduction in inflation continuing to help fuel shopper sentiment.”
Morrison concluded, “As the weather, hopefully, improves and we move into an eventful summer that is driven by sporting events such as the Euros and Olympics, we’re optimistic that this will further drive levels of discretionary FMCG and tech-and-durables sales.”
Read More: Ocado, Lidl And M&S Are The UK’s Fastest-Growing Retailers – NIQ
