Grocery price inflation continues to drop in the UK, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel, good news for consumers hoping to see those numbers get back to pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, a 2.2% decline in the month leading up to Aug. 6 means inflation in the sector now stands at 12.7%. Though Kantar did not address fresh produce in its latest report, it did note that several shelf items were priced lower, affording customers the chance to spend and get a little more for their money. For example, the same additional £5.13 they are putting into shops this year would have cost more than £11 extra last year.
And while shoppers have been leaning in on own-label products since the start of the pandemic (sales again rose by 9.7%), Kantar says the gap is closing. Branded products, for instance, also jumped by 6.4%.
“Buying supermarket lines is just one of the ways people have been trying to save money at the tills, and we can see the impact on how much they are spending,” wrote Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, in his report on the UK. “The average increase in households’ weekly grocery shop is £5.13 compared with last year, well below the £11.27 extra they would have paid if consumers had bought exactly the same items as 12 months ago based on the current rate of inflation.”
In terms of who is shopping where, UK customers continue to flock to Aldi. The discount retailer saw sales spike by more than 21% year over year in this 12 week period. Its market share has risen to 10.21%, now comfortably within the Top 4 and well ahead of Morrisons (8.7%). Lidl continues to make inroads, too, with sales leaping 19.8%. It now owns 7.7% of the market share.
The two leaders did really well, with Tesco seeing sales growth of 9.5%. Its market share sits at 27%, one-tenth of a percentage point better than at this time in 2022. Sainsbury’s sales increased 9.3%, and it sits at 14.8% overall. Asda is in third with 13.7% of the market after posting positive sales numbers of +7.7%.
Online retailer Ocado remains last among the most prominent chains at 1.4%, trailing Iceland by nearly a full percentage point.
