Tesco have drawn back in the stores war and are on par with their closest rivals SuperValu. The figures were released from the Kantar Worldpanel showing the 12 week period up till the end of April have shown that Tesco commanded the same market share as SuperValu.

Also notable in the figures was German rival discounters Aldi and Lidl slowing their seemingly unperturbed growth. For the first time in five years bot only registered single digit growth. The growth rate of both Aldi and Lidl has slowed significantly. Aldi posted growth of 8.8 per cent while Lidl’s rate of growth was 7.8 per cent. This is the first time since 2010 that both Aldi and Lidl have grown their sales by less than 10 per cent.

Tesco and Supervalu, when amalgamated, represent over 50% of total market share. Tesco are fighting hard to regain top spot after SuperValu inched ahead of them last month. A representative from Kantar said ‘Intense competition between the supermarkets has resulted in more choice and better value for shoppers, highlighted by the low level of inflation and prices increasing by just 0.2 per cent’.

Dunnes registered the strongest sales growth of 3.6% bringing them from 21.5% to 22% overall. While Tesco’s market share is lower year-on-year it has improved its position versus last month. Its improvement lifted its market share to 25 per cent and places it on the same footing as SuperValu.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/tesco-draws-level-with-supervalu-in-ireland-s-store-wars-1.2208024