Morrisons come back continues as sales increase ahead of rivals
Morrisons has achieved the largest sales increase among the ‘big four’ retailers for the second month in a row
While Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda all saw sales fall – a 1.3 per cent drop at Tesco and Sainsbury’s and 3.5 per cent at Asda – Morrisons increased its sales by 0.6 per cent, which was supported by an increase in online shopping.
Furthermore, the retailer has increased its market share to 11.0 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points compared with a year ago.
Commenting on the latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, which covered the 12 weeks ending 21 June, Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight, said: “While only a small increase against a weak 2014, this does represent the first market share gains made by Morrisons since December 2011.”
It comes after Morrisons recently rolled out its first advert under new boss David Potts, heralding its customer service and manned checkouts in a bid to distinguish itself amid the price-led marketing of its rivals.
The past three months haven’t been as positive for Tesco where market share was down 0.3 percentage points to 28.6 per cent. Sainsbury’s was similarly down 0.2 per cent to take 16.5 per cent of overall share.
At Asda sales plummeted 3.5 per cent, leaving the retailer with a 16.5 per cent share, compared with 17.1 per cent last year.
Conversely, Aldi and Lidl continue to chip away at the big four’s share. The two discounters increased sales by 15.4 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.
Aldi reached a new high with a 5.5 per cent share of the market while Lidl, also showing continued growth, rose to 3.9 per cent.
However, the overall grocery market is slipping back into decline with 0.1 per cent less going through the tills compared to last year.
“Last seen in November, the return to marginal decline across the grocery market reflects both falling prices and only steady volume growth. Sales volumes are up two per cent compared to a year ago but are not anticipated to accelerate, even with an improving economy, as demand for groceries has remained broadly steady since before the recession,” said McKevvitt.
Groceries are now 1.7 per cent cheaper compared with a year ago but are projected to rise by the end of this year.