Discount duo batter Big 4
Two-thirds shop at German stores
ALDI and Lidl are stepping up pressure on the Big Four supermarkets.
Two-thirds of us chose to do our shopping at the German discounters in the last three months.
Budget stores now account for £1 in every £8 spent in grocery chains compared with £1 in £25 spent 10 years ago.
Figures from analysts Kantar Worldpanel show Lidl is outpacing rivals Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda with sales rocketing by 19.2% in the 12 weeks to September 10, taking its market share to a record 5.3%.
Shoppers were snapping up quality wine there at bargain prices, and fresh fruit and veg at rock bottom deals. Yesterday, Lidl launched an exclusive designer collection with supermodel Heidi Klum for its Esmara clothing label. A sell-out is expected.
Aldi also saw sales leap by 15.6% over the same period and now has a 6.9% slice of the cake. Kantar Worldpanel data reveals overall supermarket sales were up 3.6%, marking the sixth month in a row when they rose by more than 3%.
Tesco was the winner out of the major chains and saw sales rise by 2.7% in the three months to September 10. Morrisons was up 2.3%, Sainsbury’s by 2.1% and Asda by 1.5%. Fraser McKevitt head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said: “In the past three months almost 63% of shoppers visited one of the two retailers [Aldi and Lidl], up from a level of 58.5% last year.
“Tesco’s recovery is becoming more entrenched. Sales have grown continually since April this year and are up in the past 12 weeks, although the retailer’s market share remains under pressure, squeezed by 0.3% to 27.8%.”
And figures from analysts Nielsen reveal cashstrapped shoppers are ditching big brands for value for money supermarket own labels.
The rising cost of groceries sent demand for own labels up 5.5% in the last three months. Nielsen’s Mike Watkins said it seemed “retailers are helping shoppers manage the impact of inflation by offering ranges of own-label alongside brands across many categories.”