New figures released by market analyst Kantar Worldpanel have revealed that Tesco's UK grocery market share dropped year-on-year for the 12 weeks to 15 April, the latest blow to the retailer following last week's revelation that its UK profit fell 1 per cent in 2011.
According to Kantar, Tesco's market share fell to 30.7 per cent from 30.9 per cent last year, despite 4.2 per cent growth in sales over the three-month period – below overall UK grocery market growth of 5 per cent.
Despite its troubles, Tesco remains well ahead of second-placed Asda, which saw its market share increase to 17.6 per cent from 17 per cent in the year-earlier period, driven by the integration of 147 Netto stores.
Of the rest of the so-called 'big four', Sainsbury's market share remained stable at 16.6 per cent, while Morrisons saw a slight decline with its share falling to 11.9 per cent from 12.1 per cent.
Elsewhere, there were good results for contrasting companies, with high-end grocer Waitrose enjoying yearly market share growth of 0.2 per cent to a total 4.5 per cent for the 12-week period, and discounters Aldi and Lidl also seeing growth on strong sales.
'The discounters and Waitrose are outperforming the middle ground as shoppers polarise their spend,' noted Kantar director Ed Garner.
No comments yet