Evidence of stockpiling is not yet coming through at the supermarket tills, but the market could yet receive a sales boost over the coming weeks.
With Brexit uncertainty growing, a Kantar Worldpanel survey has indicated that one in 10 shoppers have already started stockpiling groceries and a further 26 per cent are considering doing so. However that hasn’t shown through in retailer sales figures yet, with grocery volumes overall rising by just 1.2 per cent in the four weeks to 24 February.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt pointed out that hard-to-stockpile fresh and chilled foods make up 39 per cent of the value of the average British shopping basket.
In the latest quarter supermarkets showed sales growth of 1.9 per cent, with Aldi the only retailer to report double-digit growth, of 10 per cent as it created an unexpected new position for itself as the vendor of choice for Valentine’s Day. “In the past there may have been a bit of a stigma about treating your loved one from a discounter – that just isn’t the case anymore,” McKevitt explained. “Planning for the perfect date night, 10 per cent of the population bought chocolate, wine, steak, shellfish or a chilled dessert from Aldi during the week of Valentine’s Day, helping it increase market share by 0.6 percentage points to 7.6 per cent.”
The Co-op attracted an additional 244,000 shoppers through its doors to help boost sales by 3.6 per cent and increase its share of the total market to 5.9 per cent. Visitors to the convenience retailer spent £13 million more on fruit, vegetables and salads compared with the same time last year.
Mixed fortunes for prospective partners
The future of the Sainsbury’s-Asda merger might be hanging by a thread, but Asda still had something to cheer with the news that it continued its run of uninterrupted growth since April 2017,increasing sales by one per cent.Own-label lines at the supermarket continued to outperform brands and an increase in the number of online shopping trips helped boost growth overall. Sainsbury’s sales, by contrast, fell by one per cent, though there was better news with a four per cent rise in sales of its Taste the Difference range.
As Ocado’s new partnership with Marks & Spencer was announced, confirming they will jointly supply the retailer’s products from 2020, sales at the online specialist rose by 3.4 per cent, holding market share at 1.2 per cent. Waitrose reported growth of one per cent, its strongest performance since August 2018.
“There is greater overlap between the Waitrose and Ocado customer bases than those of any other grocers – 41 per cent of Ocado shoppers also visited Waitrose in the past 12 weeks,” commented McKevitt. “It remains to be seen how many of these are more loyal to the Waitrose product range and how many value the Ocado delivery service specifically – with or without its original partner.”
