UK supermarkets saw sales down 1.1% in the first four weeks of the year, with grocery volumes down 2.7%, according to new data from Nielsen.
However, the drop in sales for the four week period to 28 January was impacted by the fact that New Year celebrations fell at the weekend, it said.
“Partly due to the timing of New Year negatively affecting comparative sales, the figures don’t really reflect how the industry started the year,” saif Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.
“A better indicator is the last three weeks, during which till takings were up +0.3%.”
The best performing categories for the period, according to Nielsen, were Beers, Wine and Spirits (which saw sales up +2.1%) and Frozen (+1.8%). In addition, due to the cold weather, sub-categories that performed strongly included Hot Drinks (+15%) and Cold Remedies (+12%).
Watkins added that Nielsen expects “the industry to grow around 2% this year, an improvement on 2016, primarily due to the return of cost price inflation after three years of deflation and the depreciation of sterling – yet grocery spend remaining robust despite price rises.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
