Tesco market share sinks to a 20-year low
TESCO boss Philip Clarke is under renewed pressure after figures out yesterday showed that customers abandoning its stores have caused the chain to suffer its worst loss in market share in 20 years.
Analysts lashed out as data from Kantar WorldPanel revealed that Tesco’s sales slipped by 3.1 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 27 May. This led to its share of the grocery market falling 1.5 percentage points to 29 per cent – its biggest decline in two decades.
HSBC analyst Dave McCarthy described the figures as “shocking” and warned that the impact of the discounters on all the major supermarket players should not be underestimated.
“No retailer has a right to exist and will only endure if it retains a compelling offer,” he said.
The Kantar figures, which were released ahead of Tesco’s first quarter update today, showed that Morrisons and Sainsbury’s also lost market share to rivals despite efforts to launch new product lines, store revamps and lower prices.