Food unit under pressure from a boom in convenience stores
THE CO-OP Group’s food retailing business continued to lose market share over the past three months and remains the worse performing grocery retailer in the UK, according to industry data.
The Co-operative, which is the UK’s fifth largest food retailer, suffered a 1.2 per cent year-on-year fall in sales in the 12 weeks to 13 October, and was the only major grocer to report a decline in sales in the period.
The retailer’s market share also shrank from 6.7 per cent a year ago to 6.4 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel figures released yesterday.
Co-op, which has over 2,700 stores mainly in market towns and high streets, has been hit by supermarket giants pushing into the convenience store market in which it operates, Kantar’s Edward Garner explained.
The Co-op recently reported that sales were down 0.4 per cent to £3.6bn in the six months to 6 July.