Worry Xmas at big stores
Tesco and rivals losing to Germans
TRADITIONAL supermarkets are losing the race to win Christmas shoppers’ trade.
Grocery giants Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have all shed market share during the last three months.
Meanwhile, the Co-operative and German retailers Aldi and Lidl have added more customers.
Tesco’s market share fell to 27.6% compared with 28.2% this time last year, according to data from researcher Kantar Worldpanel.
Sainsbury’s share slipped from 16.4% to 16% while Morrisons dipped from 10.6% to 10.5%.
Asda was the only one of the big four to maintain its position with 15% of the UK grocery market.
Aldi’s share climbed from 6.9% to 7.6%. The Co-op went from 6% to 6.2%, while Lidl shot up from 5.1% to 5.6%. Waitrose also saw its market share shrink, falling from 5% to 4.9%.
Looking at money brought in, the German stores are the clear winners, with Aldi boosting its UK sales by 12.2% and Lidl by 11.2%. Sales fell at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. But Kantar reckons there are signs of a bumper Christmas for grocers after sales of festive favourites jumped as shoppers began stocking up in November for Christmas.
More than one in eight households have already bought a Christmas pud, while boxed chocolate sales have hit £292million and Brussels sprouts are at £18million. Overall Christmas spending in December could reach record levels.
Fraser McKevitt of Kantar Worldwide said: “Because of the way Christmas falls, grocers have an extra trading day this year meaning overall sales in December – up to and including Christmas Eve – could reach £10billion.”
He said overall UK grocery sales grew 2% over the 12-week period to December 2, its slowest rate since March 2017. “Consumers are benefiting from falling inflation,” said Mr McKevitt.
“It now stands at 1.6% – less than half the rate in December 2017 when it reached 3.6% – leading to a slowdown in the market.”