Paralympic win for Sainsbury’s as its sales rise
J SAINSBURY’S sponsorship of the Paralympic Games and Brand Match campaign has helped the British supermarket steal market share from its three biggest rivals.
New figures from industry experts Kantar Worldpanel showed that Sainsbury’s sales rose 5.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to 30 September, boosting its share of the UK grocery market to 16.5 per cent from 16.2 per cent a year ago.
Edward Garner, director at Kantar, said the grocer’s high profile advertising campaign tied to its sponsorship of the Paralympics “has clearly borne fruit”, boosting its sales in the period.
“The retailer has also been bolstered by its Brand Match promotion and the ongoing relaunch of its own label range – both of which are proving popular with consumers,” Garner added.
Sainsbury’s glowing performance contrasts with that of its larger rival Tesco, which has seen its market share fall to 31 per cent from 31.2 per cent a year earlier.
The UK’s biggest grocer last week reported its first drop in profits for two decades on the same day that Sainsbury revealed a 1.9 per cent rise in quarterly sales.
Meanwhile, upmarket supermarket Waitrose achieved its highest ever market share of 4.7 per cent in the period, up from 4.4 per cent a year ago. Sales grew by 9.3 per cent – ahead of the big four.
Asda increased its market share by one percentage point to 17.5 per cent, while Morrisons posted the slowest growth of the big four, suffering a drop in market share to 11.4 per cent from 11.8 per cent a year ago.