Grocers see first drop in online sales

ONLINE grocery sales have fallen for the first time as the nation returned to the High Street, offices, pubs and restaurants.

The number choosing to buy shopping online in the past four weeks was 81,000 lower than the same period last year, according to retail analysts Kantar.

At the same time the amount spent with each shop fell by 8pc, taking the figure down to an average of £80 per basket.

Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, said: ‘As a result, year-on-year sales growth for online groceries has dropped for the first time ever – falling by 2.6pc.’

Online grocery sales currently account for 13.3pc of the total market and analysts believe this will remain a big and growing sector. Specialist online supermarket, Ocado, which is tied to Marks & Spencer, showed annual sales growth of 3pc.

The Kantar figures show that the euphoria surrounding Euro 2020, and England’s march to the final, saw a remarkable surge in supermarket sales of alcohol, snacks and pizza. Britons spent £1.2bn on alcohol from supermarkets over the past month, which was up by 24pc on the equivalent ‘normal’ period in 2019.

Sales of crisps and snacks were up 23pc to £225m, while the total spent on chilled and frozen pizzas was up around 12pc to £92m.

This was boosted by the fact that many partied at home, rather than going to watch games at pubs, which were still hamstrung by Covid-19 restrictions that limited numbers.