Tag: Irish SuperMarkets

Supermarket sales

Sun, sports and Love Island boost supermarket sales

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

All major Irish supermarkets experience growth for the sixth period in a row according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel.

The grocery market continues to be intensely competitive with just 1.5 percentage points separating the top three retailers. Tesco is the fastest growing retailer, a title it holds for the seventh consecutive period, with sales up 4.8% compared to this time last year. Tesco is the only one of the three major retailers to witness a further decline in the average price paid per item, but this has been counteracted by shoppers spending more. Customers spent an average of an extra €21 during the 12 weeks ending 12 August, through both visiting the supermarket more often and buying more items each time.

SuperValu continues to perform strongly with sales up by 2.4% and a market share of 22%, thanks in part to owner Musgraves prominent SuperValu of the GAA All-Ireland Hurling and Football Championships. The brand also performed well outside of its Munster stronghold seeing sales in Dublin up by 3.6% and the rest of Leinster growing by 6.2%.

Dunnes Stores’ saw overall growth of 1.9% during the period, thanks in part to the retailer’s ‘Mix and Match’ promotion on their barbeque meat range which was advertised in the lead up to the August Bank Holiday and boosted sales of chilled burgers and grills by a third.

The discounters also saw good growth with seeing sales growth of 2.9%. Aldi were also the only retailer to see a notable increase in shoppers, welcoming an extra 40,000 customer during the 12 weeks. Lidl achieved sales growth of 1.9% to hold market share at 11.9%.

Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Though the retailers continue to jostle for market share, the grocers have all benefited from the spike in consumer spending as shoppers’ splash out more during the warm weather.

“It’s been a summer of indulgence for customers. Alcohol is continuing to boom – overall sales of beer, wine and cider are up 10%. Ice cream is also up by a third compared to this time last year – equivalent to an extra €10 million – and soft drinks sales have jumped by 13%. The August bank holiday provided the retailers with another opportunity to cash in, with targeted advertisements and promotional activity directing customers towards specific categories such as fresh meat, fruit and vegetables and branded treats.”

Sporting events like the football World Cup and pop culture TV favourites such as Love Island have also had an impact on what shoppers are choosing to buy. Douglas Faughnan explains: “Men’s skincare products and shaving soaps grew at double the rate of the overall grocery market, while sales of razor blades rocketed by 15% as Love Island enthusiasts were potentially inspired by the contestants’ hairless look. Time spent in front of the TV meant shoppers spent less time on home cooking, to the benefit of frozen and chilled ready meals sales, which jumped by 16% and 6% respectively.”

Dunnes stay top of growing grocery market as shoppers spend extra €96m

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Dunnes remain top of growing grocery market as Irish shoppers grocery spend increased by €96 million compared to the same period last year.

The Irish grocery market continues to show positive momentum with the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel, showing growth hit 3.9%. Dave Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Shoppers have spent an additional €96 million on groceries over the latest 12 weeks compared to last year and two factors have led to this growth. “First, shoppers are choosing to buy slightly more expensive items and this is reflected in continued sales growth for brands. Second, customers have picked up more items during their weekly shop, with the cost of the average trip 60c more than this time last year.”

Dunnes Stores remain in the top spot, despite growth falling slightly compared to the previous period, from 5.7% to 5%. Tesco sits in second place but top the charts in terms of growth in the three month period ending 25th February. Berry said: “Tesco tops the charts in terms of growth this month, with sales increasing by almost 7% and market share hitting 22.3%. This time last year the retailer was facing a number of store closures due to strike activity and its most recent performance is reflective of this. The strongest performance for Tesco has been among younger shoppers, with share among the young family demographic increasing from 26.5% last year to 29.3% this year.”

SuperValu sits in third position with market share of 22.0% placing it just 0.3 percentage points behind Tesco. SuperValu continues to build performance outside of its traditional base – with the areas are young families, where market share has increased by almost 2%, and Dublin, where sales have increased by 3.5% performing particularly strong for the retailer. Lidl is the second strongest growing retailer, with an uplift in sales of 5.9%. An increase in shopper loyalty is behind this, with shoppers returning to the store more frequently – resulting in an extra 780,000 trips for Lidl this period compared with last year.

Having previously reported a decline in sales, Aldi’s performance returned to form. Sales have increased by 1.3% and market share stands at 10.6% – just 0.2 percentage points behind Lidl.

Irish grocery market slips into deflation for first time in two years

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The Irish grocery market has slipped into deflation for the first time since May 2015. Grocery prices dropped 0.7 percentage points month-on-month to -0.2% in the 12 weeks ending 26 March 2017, according to data published by Kantar Worldpanel. Kantar conducted a survey of 30,000 products stocked in supermarkets across Ireland and the results show that prices are trending downwards.

Bottled colas saw the biggest price cut in the 12 weeks with the cost of goods such as 2 litre bottles of Coca-Cola and Pepsi dropping by as much as 10%. Biscuits are another item also getting cheaper, falling by as much as 8% during the period, while frozen vegetables fell also fell by 8%. The price of coffee has also fallen, by up to 6% during the period. This decrease comes after a supply crunch saw prices shoot up.

Despite the overall trend leaning towards falling prices, certain areas and products saw substantial price jumps. The price of fresh fish skyrocketed during the period, increasing by 12% while tinned fish also rose in price by 4%. Herbal teas and packet soup also increased significantly by 8% each, and sugar rose by 5%.The average price of a bottle of wine also rose, up by 3 per cent in the latest survey.

 

Former Lidl Exec Kenneth McGrath new CEO of US retailer Save-A-Lot

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Former Lidl executive Kenneth McGrath has been named the new CEO of US discount grocery retailer Save-A – Lot. Mr McGrath will begin his new CEO duties at Save-A-Lot on April 21.

An experienced leader in the discount grocery sector, Mr McGrath spent 13 years with Lidl in executive roles including CEO of Lidl’s Ireland division from 2009 to 2013 and CEO of Lidl USA from 2013 to 2015. Mr McGrath also served as Operations Director for Superquinn.

During his time in the role of CEO of Lidl Ireland, McGrath lead the retail chain through a period of exceptional customer and revenue growth while also maintaining a cost leadership position within the retailer’s global operations. Mr McGrath was then chosen to spearhead Lidl’s entry into the United States grocery market. He moved on from this role to become CEO of the Caribbean and Central America region at wireless telecommunications firm Digicel, where he had responsibility for 26 markets comprising $2 billion in annual sales.

Matthew Ross, chairman of Save-A-Lot’s board and managing director of majority shareholder Onex said in a statement, “We are thrilled that Kenneth has chosen to lead Save-A-Lot as we chart a new course for the company after its separation from Supervalu,” said. “Kenneth is a strong executive that brings to Save-A-Lot tremendous experience in hard-discount retailing. He is highly capable of building a world-class organization, investing in the company’s capabilities and systems, and returning Save-A-Lot to industry-leading growth by leveraging its unique market position.”

McGrath described the opportunity to lead Save-A-Lot during “this exciting phase [as] a real privilege. Save-A-Lot has a proud history of delivering exceptional value to its customers throughout the U.S., and I am looking forward to working with Save-A-Lot’s dedicated associates and licensees to serve customers in ways that enhance their experience and, in doing so, driving a period of sustained growth for the organization.”

Save-A-Lot is a hard discount supermarket chain with headquarters in Missouri owns and operates 477 corporate stores, and services and supplies another 867 licensee-owned hard-discount grocery stores across the country. With more than 1,300 stores in urban, suburban and rural areas, Save-A-Lot reaches more than 5 million shoppers weekly.

McGrath will be taking over from Eric Claus, Save-A-Lot’s current CEO.

SuperValu and Dunnes Stores locked at top spot in supermarket wars

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

 

SuperValu and Dunnes Stores are tied for top spot with a market share of 22.5% each. Tesco find themselves in third place with 21.8% in the increasingly competitive battle of the supermarkets.

Kantar Worldpanel have released figure from the 12-week period ending December 4th, which show SuperValu have increased their market share to become level with Dunnes Stores. This gain shows Supervalu recovering quickly from their fall to second place last month.

SuperValu’s rapid climb back to top spot demonstrates how fierce competition is between Ireland’s ‘big three’, with just 0.7 percentage points now separating the three largest retailers. While both retailers saw sales grow slightly over the period, Aldi posted the strongest growth in the quarter with sales up by 6.1% over the last 12 months.

Lidl increased its sales by 4.3%, a figure which sees them ahead of overall market growth, which currently stands at 3.7%, leading to a slight increase in market share for the retailer. Similarly, Aldi and Lidl are also locked in a dead heat, with each of the German giants boasting a market share of 11%.

Kantar Worldpanel’s Ireland director David Berry said “Having reached the number one spot for the first time last month, Dunnes now shares that position with SuperValu – a real testament to just how competitive this marketplace is,”

SuperValu sales have positively increased by 1% over the last 12 weeks, which translates to shoppers spending an average of an extra €1 every time they visit a SuperValu store.

The long running Shop and Save campaign continues to prove successful for Dunnes with nearly 64%of households venturing into stores over the past 12 weeks. Shoppers on average visited just over once a week, spending €39.50 per visit – an increase of almost €3 on last year.

Dunnes currently stands as the only retailer which has delivered stronger growth for brands – (up 5.7%) than own label goods which increased by 3.3 per cent in the last 12 week period.

Supermarket Christmas 2015 Figures Revealed

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

 

SuperValu has once again come up triumphs, cementing themselves as the top grocery retailer in Ireland after a bumper Christmas period. SuperValu commanded more than 25% of the overall grocery market in the 12 weeks till January 3rd. Kantar Worldwide Ireland released the figures which denotes the Christmas period for all of Ireland’s supermarket chains.

SuperValu sales were up 4.3% compared to the same period in 14/15, where Tesco still commanded the top spot. Sales across all grocers were up 3.5% on last year.

Kantar Worlwide Figures

 

Image Source: Kantar Worldwide Panel.