Price war hits the dominance of Tesco

Tesco’s share has slipped from 30.7 per cent a year ago to 30.5 per cent while its growth rate of 3.8 per cent has fallen behind rivals, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to November 27.

The supermarket, which has more than 2,700 stores in the UK, cut the cost of 3,000 items as part of its £500m Big Price Drop campaign, which started at the end of September.

The move triggered an aggressive response as competitors hit back with their own schemes, such as Sainsbury’s Brand Match campaign and Leeds-based Asda’s move to bring petrol prices down.

Kantar said while Tesco was the only supermarket among the big four to see its market share fall on a year earlier, its price-cutting initiative is likely to have brought in more shoppers.

Bradford-based Morrisons continued its positive run, seeing its share rise from 11.8 per cent a year ago to 12.1 per cent, while Asda posted its strongest sales growth – 5.3 per cent – since December 2009 as the integration of the UK Netto stores is completed.

Sainsbury’s maintained its 16.4 per cent market share and registered a 4.2 per cent rise in till roll growth, keeping it on the tail of second-placed Asda on 17.2 per cent.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “With more products available for less, the amount of cash taken at the tills has understandably dropped.”