Supermarket sales grow at fastest rate for 26 years

Supermarket sales soared faster in the past three months than at any point in at least 26 years, as the extent of shoppers stockpiling became clear, according to new data.

Grocery sales leapt by over 14 per cent during the past 12 weeks, the fastest growth rate since 1994 when records began.

Kantar said shoppers made the most of parks and the warm weather to enjoy picnics with their households and socially distanced catch ups, helping to boost sales of chilled dips by 22 per cent, crisps by 28 per cent and carbonated soft drinks by 25 per cent over the past four weeks.

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However, supermarkets have felt the hit from a fall in sales of on-the-go meals, snacks and drinks, which total £1bn in normal times, as people self isolated at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stockpiling picture becoming clearer.Stockpiling picture becoming clearer.
Stockpiling picture becoming clearer.

Online grocery sales were 75 per cent higher than a year ago, with nearly one in five households placing an order over the past four weeks.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “I don’t think the switch to online will be permanent, but it accelerates the trend considerably.

“Some people will stick with it because they’ve learned how to do it, but a considerable number of people actually like going to the shops and find it more hassle to order online.

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“We’ve seen more movement in the last five months than we have in the last five years in terms of people taking up online shopping. So it has given it a big boost, but I don’t think all the gains are going to be kept.”

TescoTesco
Tesco

Sales at Tesco rose by 12.7 per cent, Sainsbury’s by 12.5 per cent, Asda by 6.5 per cent and Morrisons by 9.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to May 17.

Mr McKevitt said Yorkshire grocers Asda and Morrisons performed less strongly than their rivals because they lack convenience stores and have a bigger focus on non-food.

“Both Asda and Morrisons are in pretty strong growth in take-home grocery at the moment,” he said.

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“The reason they are slightly behind is twofold. Firstly, Asda in particular has a big non-food offer, which of course people can in theory buy, but it’s not top of their mind when they go shopping because they’re concentrating on food.

“Neither Asda or Morrisons have a convenience offering so that won’t be helping them in the same way that Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op are doing very well at the moment.

People are staying locally and just picking up a few items and are avoiding the queues at the large stores.”

The VE Day bank holiday on Friday May 8 helped make the preceding Thursday the biggest shopping day of the month with £488m spent on groceries. Ice cream and alcohol sales were 40 per cent and 50 per cent higher respectively than last year.

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Mr McKevitt said: “People have been working their way through their store cupboards over the past couple of months and some will now be spending a bit more on each visit to the supermarket to replenish supplies.”

Families with adult children have seen the greatest increase in spending, with an average monthly spend of £618 versus £545 last May.

Mr McKevitt said that supermarket satisfaction has picked up after it fell at the beginning of the lockdown

“People are generally pretty satisfied with the supermarkets after an initial dip when people were cross that some of the shelves were bare,” he said.

“The level of satisfaction has gone back to pre-crisis levels.”

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