Dunnes Stores has drawn level with Tesco in the Republic's store wars with both now commanding a market share of 21.6 per cent

While SuperValu remains ahead of the chasing pack, with a share of 22.4 per cent of the market, but broadest smiles will most likely be found in the corridors of power at Dunnes Stores after it saw its year-on-year sales increase by 6.3 per cent.

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland covering the 12 weeks to September 11th show the Irish grocery market growing rapidly with sales up 3.7 per cent year on year.

"Larger trips have boosted sales for Dunnes, with the average spend increasing by €2.50 to €37.20 in the latest quarter, compared with the same time last year," said Kantar Worldpanel's Irish director David Berry.

“Dunnes has successfully tempted shoppers to add more expensive items to their baskets, with the average price per item rising to €2.05 – an increase of 12 per cenmt on last year.”

SuperValu leads

SuperValu increased sales by 3.1 per cent year on year, the third consecutive month where growth for the retailer has been above 3 per cent. Its success has been helped by shoppers adding more items to their baskets on average every time they shop, Kantar said.

While Tesco has seen value sales fall 2.3 per cent, it continues to sell more items, with volume sales 1.9 per cent higher than the same time last year. The performance gap between value and volume sales is a reflection of a lower average price point at Tesco, in part the result of its “staying-down prices” campaign.

It was also a good 12 weeks for Aldi, which has narrowed its gap on Lidl slightly.

Lidl’s market share now stands at 11.7 per cent – in line with last year – while sales growth for Aldi saw it increase it market share from 11.2 per cent last year to 11.4 per cent in the latest period.