New figures today show that take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 3.4% over the four weeks to March 23 compared to the same time last year.
Kantar said this marks the slowest market growth rate since November 2022, despite St Patrick’s Day celebrations and Pancake Tuesday falling during the period under review.
Kantar also noted that the average volume per trip continued to fall by 2.9% in March as shoppers continue to prefer to shop little and often.
Today’s figures also show that grocery price inflation stands at 4.52%, up 1.16 percentage points compared to the same 12-week time last year.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, said the continued rise in average prices is contributing to a slowdown in sales, having a marked impact on consumer habits.
She said that with a combination of higher grocery prices and rising household costs, supermarkets are focusing on promotions to attract shoppers both in-store and online.
“Promotional sales increased in the latest 12 weeks with shoppers spending an additional €99m on promotional lines compared to the same period last year,” Emer Healy said.
Promotional sales currently hold 23% of total grocery spending compared to just 19% during the same time last year.
She also said that retailers are pushing own label products as an alternative to brands, with own label sales jumping by 4.5% compared to last year by 4.5%.
Shoppers spent an additional €71.9m on these ranges, accounting for 47.6% of all value sales.
Despite a late Easter this year, Kantar said that St Patrick’s Day and Pancake Tuesday helped boost seasonal sales. Shoppers spent an additional €6.8m on beer, spirits and wine combined, along with an extra €590,000 on hot cross buns, pancakes, sugar and sweet spreads, compared to last year.
Sales off fish were also up as shoppers spent an additional €930,000 on fresh fish and ready meals combined.
Meanwhile, online sales rose 10.8% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €20.8m. Over the 12-week period, shoppers purchased their groceries more often online, up 11.4%.
Supermarkets’ market share
Over the latest 12 weeks, Dunnes held a 24.4% market share, with sales growth of 6% year-on-year.
Kantar said that Dunnes shoppers picked up more volume per trip, with the strongest increase compared to the other retailers, up 1.9% on last year, which contributed a combined €15.6m to its overall performance.
Tesco holds 23.2% of the market, with value growth of 6% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their trips to store, which contributed €33.6m to overall performance.
SuperValu holds 20.2% of the market with growth of 5.4%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 24.5 trips over the latest 12 weeks. This increase in the number of shopping trips alongside new shopper arrivals contributed an additional €44.4m to its performance.
Meanwhile, Lidl holds an 13.5% market share up 4.7%. Larger trips drove an additional €3.3m in sales, while Aldi holds an 11.6% market share, up 4.9% as increased trips drove an additional €13.9m in sales.
Article Source – Grocery sales in Ireland increase by 3.4% in March – RTE
