The trend pointing toward the rise of premium and discount supermarket chains in the UK at the expense 'the big four' shows no signs of slowing down, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel.
Analysing supermarket spending for the 12 weeks to 30 March, compared with the same period a year ago, Kantar say that Lidl and Aldi both saw strong growth while Aldi recorded a record gain in market share over the year, rising by more than a third.
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons all saw a drop in sales over the period. However, Tesco still remain top of the pile in Britain a 28.6% share, compared with 4.6% for Aldi.
Lidl’s market share rose to a record of 3.4%, up from 2.9% in the comparable period last year.
Sainsbury's market share fell to 16.5% from 16.9%. Asda, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., saw its market share fall to 17.4%, from 17.6%.
Morrisons's market share fell to 11.1%, from 11.6% a year earlier.
"Amid a challenging market backdrop, individual retailer growth might be expected to be restricted," said Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel.
"This is certainly not the case for Aldi which achieved its highest ever growth of 35.3%, boosting the retailer to a record market share of 4.6%.
"Lidl also experienced strong growth in a record breaking month, and now accounts for 3.4% of the market". “All of the ‘big four’ supermarkets have faced declining sales over the past 12 weeks, which has been accentuated by the late falling of Easter,” he said.
“Nevertheless, they have also seen worrying share declines, with the most resilient performance coming from Asda this period,” Garner added.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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