GROCERY SALES SLOW AS UK MARKS LOCKDOWN ANNIVERSARY

PUBLISHING DATE
April 2, 2021

Take-home grocery sales in the UK rose by 7.4% during the 12 weeks to 21 March 2021, marking a slowdown in growth compared to previous months, according to the latest figures from analyst Kantar.

The reduction in sales came just before the anniversary of Britain’s first national Covid-19 lockdown and supermarkets began to annualise sales against the extraordinary spending in 2020. Sales over the most recent four weeks were down by 3% versus the same time last year.

Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s Head of Retail and Consumer Insight said: “Spring’s arrival signals the start of a really interesting period for the [UK] grocery market. The anniversary of the first national lockdown means we begin to compare grocery sales against the record-breaking levels seen in the early days of the pandemic and growth has perhaps not surprisingly dipped over the past four weeks as a result. 

“This time last year, Brits were adjusting to schools and offices closing and making extra trips to the supermarket to fill their cupboards for lockdown. To put that into context, shoppers made 117 million fewer trips to the supermarket this month compared with those fraught weeks in March 2020.”

Despite the dip, grocery spending in the UK remains considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels. While growth in the sector has slowed against 2020, sales are still much higher than the same 12 weeks in 2019 – up by 15.6%. 

As restrictions on dining out continue, the average UK household spent an extra €159 on take-home groceries compared with this period two years ago.

With some UK Covid restrictions lifting, Easter weekend will bring reunions with friends and family for many people and preparations are underway.

McKevitt said:“Warmer temperatures and lighter evenings mean many of us are planning outdoor get togethers over the long weekend. Sixty-one per cent of people are looking forward to socialising with friends again and 23% of households are planning to dust off the barbecue if the weather is kind to us.

“There are signs of people making a special, even symbolic, effort this year and grandparents might be showing up with additional treats after 12 months of restrictions. Shoppers had already spent €43.3 million on hot cross buns and €179.1m on Easter eggs by 21 March – €56.1m more than at the same stage last year.”

In the last four weeks, online grocery growth slowed, with the first signs that shoppers are returning to physical stores.

Online sales were 89% higher than this time last year, which is still impressive, but the channel’s share of the market dropped back to 14.5% from the record of 15.4% in February 2021. 

McKevitt said: Overall, [UK] households made 13 million additional trips to the supermarket in March and we’re seeing growing confidence among older shoppers in particular, with 143,000 fewer over-65s making digital orders in March. 

“Now largely vaccinated, this age group increased its trips to bricks-and-mortar outlets by 6.8% – more than double the national rate.”

Results from the large supermarket chains

  • Tesco increased its sales by 8.5% and once again gained share to capture 27.1% of the market, up by 0.3 percentage points compared with the same 12 weeks last year;
  • Asda grew ahead of the market and edged up its market share from 15% to 15.1%;
  • Morrisons’ sales growth of 8.7% meant a share increase of 0.1 percentage points to 10.1%;
  • Sales at Sainsbury’s rose by 7.3% to hold share steady at 15.3%;
  • Ocado’s sales jumped by 33.9%, taking market share up to 1.9% from 1.5% a year ago;
  • Discounters Lidl and Aldi, which have not benefited from the boom in online sales during the past year, grew by 2.9% and 1.5% respectively.


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