Tucked within Kantar Worldpanel’s latest report that food inflation has dipped a smidge to 17.3% is another nugget worthy of headlines: Aldi has reached double digits in market share in the UK.
In its blazing run into the Big Four, Aldi now has cornered 10.1% of the market after a mindblowing 25% rise in the past year alone. Only one other retailer, discount supermarket rival Lidl, can boast similar numbers. The two each gained more than a percentage point on their competitors over the same time last year, as all the rest – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-op and Waitrose – saw their shares decrease.
“Shoppers are voting with their feet by switching from more expensive supermarkets to Aldi,” Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley said in a statement. “As we hit this new market share milestone, our commitment to offering the lowest grocery prices in Britain is stronger than ever.”
There seems to be no slowing Aldi, which climbed within four percentage points of ASDA and within five of Sainsbury’s. Tesco is still the far-and-away leader at 27%, though even its share dipped 0.3%. The promise of new stores, new hires and low, low prices has cost-conscious consumers at least thinking about a switch. And Hurley said, more is on the way.
“We are delivering even more investment in Britain by creating 6,000 jobs this year, spending £1.3bn over two years on stores and infrastructure, in addition to a further £3.5 billion a year with our British suppliers by the end of 2025,” he said.
That’s not to say the others are scuffling – they just haven’t been able to keep the same pace as the discounters. On the strength of own-value sales, which soared 13.5% thanks to customers seeking out bargains, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA did see sales jump more 8% over the current 12-week period than in 2022.
Iceland, though not a major player in terms of share at just 2.2%, had the next best performance after Aldi and Lidl at +9.4%. The worst performer was Morrisons, which saw only a 0.1% increase year on year, followed by Co-op at +2.7%.
Regardless, shoppers are not showing much loyalty. And it’s Aldi and Lidl that are gaining attention and nearly lapping the field.
“Consumers are continuing to shop around, visiting at least three major retailers every month on average,” said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight. “The discounters have been big beneficiaries of this, with Aldi going past a 10% market share for the first time this month. That’s up from 5% eight years ago in 2015, so we can see just how competitive the market can be. Retailers are really battling it out to show value to shoppers, but if consumers feel their offer isn’t quite right then they’ll go elsewhere.”
