Gap narrows between Supervalu and Tesco as inflation slows

Supervalu has missed an opportunity to take over from Tesco as the largest supermarket in the State after its market share fell 0.2 per cent to 25 per cent, according to figures published this morning.

However, the gap between the two retailers is now just 0.4 per cent after Tesco recorded another bad performance which saw its share of the market fall by 5.5 per cent to put it at 25.4 per cent, compared with 27 per cent over the same period.

It has improved its performance compared with last month when its sales fell by 6.2 per cent.

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland cover the 12 weeks ending August 17th show food and drink prices rising at the lowest level since March 2012. Grocery price inflation now stands at 1.5 per cent, down from 1.9 per cent in the previous three months.

Both Lidl and Aldi continue to perform ahead of the market with both retailers posting strong increases in market share with two thirds of shoppers saying they walked through the doors of a Lidl over the preceding 12 weeks.

Lidl’s share of the sector is now put at 8.5 per cent while Aldi’s is marginally behind on 8.4 per cent.

“The intense price competition between Ireland’s larger grocers doesn’t show any signs of letting up. This has led to falling prices across a number of staple food and drink items,” said David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel. “We have seen prices fall across popular products and vegetables, bread and milk are now all cheaper than this time last year.”

He said 46,000 more shoppers had shopped in Lidl over the last 12 weeks compared to a year earlier.. “This increased footfall has helped to boost its share of the market to a record 8.5 per cent,” he said.

Despite a slight slowdown in Aldi’s sales growth which has dropped to 14.4 per cent, it is still growing ahead of the competition thanks to increased numbers of shoppers visiting the store more frequently and spending more per trip.

Elsewhere, Dunnes Stores and SuperValu have both broadly held sales in line with last year, albeit slightly behind overall market growth. Both Dunnes and SuperValu have attracted more shoppers into their stores, by 41,000 and 60,000 respectively, however the challenge lies in enticing customers to up their in-store spend.