Wind in the sales €5m
THE Beast from the East and Storm Emma caused a massive boost for Ireland’s grocery sector, a report revealed yesterday.
The heavy snow sparked panic buying as people were ordered to stay indoors at the start of the month.
The report showed shoppers spent €9.6million more on groceries than they did the previous week – up 6% on the same period last year.
And smaller shops saw the biggest benefit with their profits accounting for more than half of the extra spending, according to the Nielson data.
Convenience stores normally make up 36% of grocery sales.
Nielson’s Matt Clark said people were spending more in all types of shops. He added: “The beauty of the beast for grocery retail was that people spent more on almost every single category.
“The weather warnings and nearcurfew type advice, meant uncertainty was a major driver of people buying more groceries.
“However, the real growth was not in staples such as bread and milk but indulgent categories such as alcohol,
YESTERDAY
confectionery and snacks. It was as though an unexpected holiday mood prevailed with consumers tempted to treat themselves during the lock-down.
“For retailers, it was a case of warm trade winds blowing in – particularly for convenience stores as the few shopping forays could only be done on foot.”
Alcohol was the biggest winner in terms of the incremental amount spent compared to the previous week.
Sales of wine rose by €2.6million, followed by beer at €2.4million. In terms of relative growth, categories such as stout, rose 37%, and cider, increased by 30%.
Ironically, frozen food was the next biggest beneficiary with an increase of €2.2million as storms of shoppers stocked up on convenient and longlasting options. The growth rate in relative terms was 28%, almost 10 times its current annual growth.
Another big winner were home fire products, which saw a €1million incremental rise in sales while wrapped bread was at No7 on the list with a rise of €1.2million or 15%.
Real growth wasn’t in staples such as bread or milk but in indulgences MATT CLARK
Amount extra spent on beer and wine during the red weather warning