Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda continue to lose market share, Nielsen shows
Big supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda have continued to lose market share, according to a survey of the UK's leading supermarkets from research firm Nielsen.
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Nielsen data showed Tesco's sales declined 1.1% to a 27.6% share of the market in the 12 weeks to the end of February, worse than recent indications from Kantar.
Asda was the worst performer, with sales falling 2.2%, followed by a 1.4% slide at Sainsbury, while Morrison's share was flat.
The increasingly fierce price war by the 'Big Four' has seemingly led to a halt in the infamous 'rise of the discounters' in terms of market share gain, with Aldi and Lidl's market share remaining for the second consecutive 12-week period at 10.7%.
Aldi's sales still grew 16.1% year-on-year, and Lidl’s 13.3% - though Lidl is looking to change its fortunes with the second sharpest increase in advertising spending in the sector.
The price war has helped the total volume of items purchased from the supermarkets increase 1.0% year-on-year during the four-week period to 28 February, the third consecutive year-on-year rise, following 17 consecutive monthly year-on-year declines.
But it also meant the value of industry sales fell 0.7% versus the same period a year ago, Nielsen said.
Food deflation stands at -0.4%, the market research group added.
“Lower commodity prices, more retailer price cuts and ongoing promotions continue to make grocery shopping cheaper than it was last year,” says Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
“This is now leading to sustained volume growth, suggesting the consistent decline in supermarket sales that characterised last year may finally be over.
“At a category level, there’s volume growth in confectionery, drinks, snacks and bakery. In addition, deflation is currently having the biggest impact on packaged grocery and fresh and chilled foods, so we expect volume growth to follow in these categories too.
“This good news is likely to be amplified with spring on the horizon, as Easter is often a turning point in sales momentum. It’s realistic to expect we’ll see a sustained period of shoppers buying higher volumes.”
PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY
Nielsen said Sainsbury and Asda were the biggest spenders on TV and press advertising for the second consecutive month.
Sainsbury's pumped out £4.7m on ads, 82% more than the same period last year, just ahead of Asda's £4.6m.
Iceland increased spend the most, up 322% to £1.7m, followed by Lidl's 124% increase to £3.2m