The latest TNS Worldpanel grocery market share figures, published today for the 12 weeks ending 19th April 2009, continue to show the resilience of the Grocery sector with a year-on-year growth rate of 6.2%. As before this is below our measure of grocery price inflation as shoppers seek to control their expenditure, either by shopping around, or, more significantly, by switching to lower priced products. This is being actively encouraged by some retailers with “Switch and Save” type promotions.
For this period, the strongest growth amongst the top 4 has been achieved by Sainsbury’s. Their growth rate of 8.1% is well ahead of the market and has lifted their share from 16.1% a year ago to 16.3% now. Whilst they have maintained their ethical stance on issues like Fairtrade and Free-Range, they have also fielded some aggressive promotions on the run-up to Easter together with featuring their Basics range.
Both Asda and Morrisons have grown ahead of the market and lifted their shares by 0.3 and 0.1 points respectively, whilst Tesco have seen a share drop of 0.5 points. Having said that, their growth rate of 4.6% still translates into market leading cash growth because of their sheer size.
The Discounters Aldi and Lidl are still delivering double digit growth of 13.6% and 12.3% respectively but the expansion of the sector has slowed from the highs of last year – together with Netto the Discount sector holds 6.0% of the Grocery Market, up from 5.7% a year ago.
It is worth noting that Waitrose has returned to growth, albeit behind the market. Possibly a sign that shoppers’ panic response to the recession is being replaced by a sense of proportion, helped by promotions and the introduction of the ‘Essentials’ range.
An update on inflation
Grocery price inflation remains high and the figure for the 12 week-ending period 19th April 2009 is 9.0% compared with 9.3% seen 4 weeks ago. Not only is the weakness of Sterling causing the importation of grocery price inflation, but it has become more advantageous for producers to export, thereby limiting the domestic supply.
This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate as they trade down or seek out more offers.
Total Till Roll
Great Britain Consumer Spend
Includes all expenditure through main store tills and excludes petrol & instore concession
|
12 Weeks to 20 April 2008
|
|
12 Weeks to 19 April 2009
|
|
Change
|
|
£000s
|
% **
|
£000s
|
% **
|
%
|
|
Total Till Roll
|
28,137,958
|
|
28,940,922
|
|
2.9
|
|
Total Grocers
|
20,340,643
|
100.0%
|
21,602,411
|
100.0%
|
6.2
|
|
Total Multiples
|
18,882,578
|
92.8%
|
20,121,423
|
93.1%
|
6.6
|
|
Tesco
|
6,319,208
|
31.1%
|
6,610,558
|
30.6%
|
4.6
|
|
Asda
|
3,438,021
|
16.9%
|
3,711,709
|
17.2%
|
8.0
|
|
Sainsbury's
|
3,266,322
|
16.1%
|
3,530,582
|
16.3%
|
8.1
|
|
Morrisons
|
2,318,389
|
11.4%
|
2,490,783
|
11.5%
|
7.4
|
|
Somerfield
|
744,261
|
3.7%
|
719,540
|
3.3%
|
-3.3
|
|
Waitrose
|
800,949
|
3.9%
|
826,709
|
3.8%
|
3.2
|
|
Iceland
|
348,375
|
1.7%
|
379,426
|
1.8%
|
8.9
|
|
Netto
|
148,125
|
0.7%
|
151,470
|
0.7%
|
2.3
|
|
Lidl
|
457,544
|
2.2%
|
513,845
|
2.4%
|
12.3
|
|
Aldi
|
556,793
|
2.7%
|
632,505
|
2.9%
|
13.6
|
|
Farm Foods
|
103,632
|
0.5%
|
121,228
|
0.6%
|
17.0
|
|
Other Freezer Centres
|
48,670
|
0.2%
|
49,250
|
0.2%
|
1.2
|
|
Other Multiples
|
332,290
|
1.6%
|
383,818
|
1.8%
|
15.5
|
|
The Co-operative
|
893,548
|
4.4%
|
945,723
|
4.4%
|
5.8
|
|
Total Independents
|
564,516
|
2.8%
|
535,264
|
2.5%
|
-5.2
|
|
Total Symbols
|
204,994
|
1.0%
|
198,753
|
0.9%
|
-3.0
|
|
Other Independents
|
359,522
|
1.8%
|
336,511
|
1.6%
|
-6.4
|
|
** = Percentage Share of Total Grocers
|
|
|
|
|
|
To view the video commentary from Ed Garner or to get further information please visit http://www.tns-global.co.uk/_assets/video/worldpanel_april_09.wmv
- ends -
Note to editor
These findings are based on TNS Worldpanel data for the 12 weeks to 19th April 2009. TNS Worldpanel monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in Great Britain. All data discussed in the above announcement is based on the value of items being bought by these consumers, TNS will only support data that is published in the context we have presented it and our own interpretation of these findings. We cannot be held responsible for any other interpretation of these findings.
For further information, please contact:
Maja Rode/Sara Taylor
Camargue
+44 (0) 20 7636 7366
mrode@camarguepr.com
About Kantar:
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