Top Four UK Grocers Sales Rise, But Still Losing Market Share
21 August 2018 - 6:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker and Maryam Cockar
U.K. grocers grew sales in the latest 12 weeks to Aug. 12 as
consumers splashed out on branded goods, especially savory snacks,
drinks and ice-cream during the recent heatwave, a survey by Kantar
Worldpanel showed Tuesday.
Sales at Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN), the U.K.'s number-one grocer by
market share, rose 1.8% after it had strong growth in its Express
convenience stores. Its market share declined by 0.5 percentage
points to 27.4%.
Meanwhile, Kantar said J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) experienced its
fastest rate of growth since January, with sales up 1.2% thanks to
strong online sales and the growth of its premium "Taste the
Difference" range. However, Sainsbury's market share fell by 0.4
percentage points to 15.5%.
German retailers Aldi and Lidl grew both market share and sales.
Kantar said Aldi's sales rose 12.6%, helping the retailer grow its
share of the market by 0.6 percentage points to 7.6%, thanks its
fresh and chilled aisles, with meat, dairy and ready meals
performing well.
Sales at Lidl increased 8.6% and its market share rose by 0.3
percentage points to 5.5%. Kantar said Lidl's premium own-label
sales rose by nearly a third, while sales of branded products
increased 37%.
Asda, a subsidiary of U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc. (WMT), saw
its market share decline by 0.1 percentage point to 15.2%. Sales
rose 2.6%, which Kantar said was the second-strongest growth of the
U.K.'s big four supermarkets.
Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC's (MRW.LN) market share was
unchanged at 10.4%, with sales increasing 2.7%.
Ocado Group PLC's (OCDO.LN) market share rose by 0.1 percentage
point to 1.2% as sales grew 8.5%.
The market share of upmarket retailer Waitrose, a division of
John Lewis Partnership PLC, fell by 0.1% percentage point to 5%,
while sales rose 2.4%, Kantar said.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749 and
Maryam Cockar at maryam.cockar@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 21, 2018 04:08 ET (08:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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