Sainsbury’s beats rivals to report sales growth
Sainsbury’s beat its rivals to become the only major UK supermarket to report sales growth in the last 12 weeks.
The grocer’s sales increased 0.6 per cent, its fastest rate since October last year, while the other “Big Four” supermarkets- Tesco, Asda and Morrisons – saw sales decline 0.2 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.
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German discount stores Lidl and Aldi reported sales growth of 8.2 per cent and 7.3 per cent, as they continued to steal market share from the major supermarkets.
Sainsbury’s market share reduced from 15.4 per cent last year to 15.3 per cent, Asda’s market share declined from 15.3 per cent to 15 per cent, Morrisons’ fell from 10.3 per cent to 9.9 per cent and Tesco dropped from 27.3 per cent to 27 per cent.
Most customers have not begun stockpiling for Brexit ahead of the 31 October deadline date, according to the latest research by Kantar.
Sales of dry pasta and healthcare products over the past four weeks were 9 per cent and 7 per cent higher than the same time last year, however canned products sales fell two per cent and frozen food sales dipped one per cent.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “The grocery market seems to have finally edged out from under the shadow of 2018 and tough comparisons with the strong summer sales of last year.
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“Sainsbury’s performance reflects this – increasing sales at its fastest rate since October 2018 to make it the only big four retailer to achieve growth.
“The grocer recently announced plans to phase out its value ‘Basics’ line which made it into 12 per cent of shopping baskets during the past 12 weeks, so it will be interesting to see how replacement brands like ‘Stamford Street’ and ‘J James and family’ fare as they become more widely available.”