Lidl continues to outpace its discounter rival as its sales jumped 8% over the 12 weeks to 15 June, as Aldi’s revenue dipped 1%, according to NIQ data.
However, NIQ flagged that Aldi was up against tough comparatives as it had the highest growth of any retailer this time last year. Its market share fell from 10.8% last year to 10.4%, at the same time Lidl’s marched forward from 7.2% to 7.6%
The data revealed that although both discounters are still attracting new shoppers and more visits, their average spend per visit is down compared to this time last year.
NIQ UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins said: “Now that discounter market share has plateaued, their growth for the rest of the year will be more dependent on new store openings and encouraging more visits. This will be needed to counteract some of the spend gained during the high period of inflation, which is now drifting back to supermarkets and may well continue over the next six months.”
Elsewhere, Ocado continued to outperform all retailers, with sales surging 12.6% in the last three months. M&S followed close behind with a rise of 7.1%, leaving both retailer’s market shares at 1.7% and 3.8% respectively.
Sales at Sainsbury’s and Tesco also increased 4.7% and 4.1% respectively, as their market shares both increased by 0.3 percentage points year on year.
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On the flip side, Asda was once again lagged behind with sales down 4.9%, leaving its market share down one percentage point year on year to 12.2%.
These changes come as supermarket sales slowed by 1.1% in the last four weeks, compared to 12.1% growth in the same period last year.
Watkins attributed the slow grocery sales to last year’s hot summer and this year’s wet weather.
“The grocery sales uplift in June compared to May was much softer than this time last year which had the hottest June on record. Whilst the growth trends through to mid June look stark, we can now expect a lower level of growth for a number of months to come as we cycle through high inflation comparatives,” said Watkins
“We remain hopeful that current warm weather and England’s success at the Euros may boost sales of drinks and snacks.”
