Sainsbury's fares best as Big Four supermarkets all lose market share, says Kantar
The Big Four group of UK supermarkets all lost market share in the last 12 weeks, with Sainsbury's performing best of this bunch and Asda the worst hit.
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According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, Tesco saw its market share shrink 0.4 percentage points to 28.4% in the 12 weeks to 26 April as its sales fell 1% in the period, while Sainsbury's lost just 0.1 point to a 16.5% share as its sales dipped 0.2%.
Sales at Morrisons declined by 1.1% on a year ago and its market share was at 10.9%.
Asda retained its second place in market share at 16.9%, down from 17.1% a month ago, as sales fell 2.2%.
More shoppers through the door have helped Sainsbury’s, which also reported results on Wednesday, to be the strongest performer among the Big Four, Kantar said, with performance boosted by the increased focus on non-food items and the chain’s strength in London, where grocery sales are growing faster than elsewhere in the country.
The latest grocery sector figures showed total supermarket sales have slowed to a revenue growth of 0.2% compared to last year.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl continued to be the fastest growing retailers, up by 15.1% and 10.1% respectively, though this was slower than in recent months, which Kantar suggested meant "the discounter momentum is starting to slow a little". Last month Aldi overtook Waitrose as the UK's sixth biggest supermarket.
As the price war continues to rage in reaction to the rise of the discounters, a typical basket of everyday items is now 2.1% cheaper than it was in 2014.
This was thanks to a record low for grocery price deflation, said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
"Lower costs are the result of both falling commodity prices and the ongoing supermarket price war, with all major retailers offering cheaper like-for-like goods."
“This is good news for consumers, saving the average household £20 in the last three months. But many of the country’s largest grocers have struggled to enjoy substantial growth, with lower prices taking £532m out of supermarket tills.”
However, data out from the British Retail Consortium and market researchers Nielsen showed a slight easing of retail price deflation year-on-year.
The monthly BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index (SPI) recorded falls in April of 1.9%, from the 2.1% fall in March and giving a 12-month rolling average of a 1.7% fall.
All major categories displayed downward price pressure, which will contribute to the flat overall consumer price index inflation the UK is currently experiencing.
Analysing the data, Clive Black at Shore Capital said the food price deflation looked set to persist for much of 2015.
"Deflation, high promotional participation (albeit coming off its recent high levels) and gross margin pressure are the stuff of earnings warnings, as evidenced from the UK supermarkets over the past year.
"However, current trade also features the return of positive volumes, which benefit the supply chains and supermarkets alike, leading us to be a little bit more sanguine about nearing the end of a penal downgrade cycle."