British supermarket sales growth slowed in September, likely owing to cooler weather and a return to routine following the summer holidays, new data from NIQ has shown.
According to the market researcher, total till sales grew by 4% in the four weeks ending 7 September, down from 5.5% the previous month.
NIQ also found that the online share of FMCG spend has increased to 13% – up from 12.5% last year.
A small growth of 1% in online shoppers, and a 6% increase in online shopping occasions primarily drove this change.
There was an online sales growth for FMCG of 6.1% which performed ahead of brick and mortar shopping (1.8%) over the past four weeks.
Overall, there was an increase of 2.2% for shopping occasions across all channels as shoppers aimed to take advantage of discounts with promotional spend maintained at 25% of all FMCG sales.
In terms of retailer performance over the last 12 weeks, Ocado once again had the fastest growth with 15.4% followed by Marks & Spencer at 12.4%.
Morrisons increased spend per visit following additional More Card offers and Waitrose attracted more shoppers and visit compared to last year.
Discounter market share has stabilised to 17.6% and has now returned to the same level as February 2023.
‘Reinvigorate Marketing Efforts’
Speaking about the findings, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins said, “September is closely tied to a change in how we shop following ‘back-to-school,’ so retailers typically reinvigorate marketing efforts as customers refocus on new routines as we go from summer to autumn.
“With some 50% of households saying they are moderately or severely impacted by the increase in cost-of-living this means retailers will need to be laser-focused in offering products and promotions that inspire customers who are budget-conscious as part of the push for sales growth in Q4.
“Many households are now budgeting for Christmas and slowly stocking their cupboards to help spread the cost.
“So whilst promotions are still key, assessing the impact of all media spend is more important as this helps retailers and brands get a better understanding of shopper behaviour and purchasing drivers.”
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