Boosted by the timing of Easter this year, take-home grocery sales in Ireland over the four weeks to April 20 increased by 8.4% compared to the same time last year.
The latest figures from Kantar show that consumers went shopping 23 times on average, contributing an additional €9.7m to the grocery market’s overall performance.
Over the latest 12-week period, Kantar said an additional €15.3m was spent on seasonal Easter confectionery, with 82% of this attributed to Easter eggs alone.
Shoppers also purchased more Easter eggs than last year, up 6.6%, with over 64% of Irish households buying one this year. 43% of all Easter egg sales were made on promotion, Kantar noted.
Kantar said the total grocery market in Ireland saw a 15.4% increase in promotions in the 12 week period with shoppers spending an additional €109m on promotional lines compared to the time last year. Promotional sales hold 22.8% of total grocery spending compared to 20.8% last year.
April also saw a steep increase in alcohol sales, up 8.7% year-on-year. Shoppers spent an additional €8m on beer and cider, wine and non-alcoholic drinks on last year, while they also spent a combined additional €2.5m on hot cross buns and lamb.
Brighter and warmer days also boosted the performance of typical BBQ choices with an extra combined €1.1m spent on sausages, antipasti coleslaw and potato salad in April, Kantar noted.
Meanwhile, today’s figures also show that grocery price inflation rose to reach 4.91% compared to the same 12-week period last year. Inflation levels are up 2.52 percentage points compared to last year.
Over the 12-week period, Kantar said that online grocery sales were boosted by a 10% increase in shopping frequency and an influx of new customers.
More than 18% of Irish households shopped online for groceries during this time, with new shoppers and more frequent trips contributing a combined €22.8m to overall performance.
Market Share
In the 12 weeks to April 20, Dunnes continues to hold the biggest market share of the supermarket industry. Its share stood at 24.1% with sales growth of 6.5% year-on-year. Dunnes shoppers picked up more volume per trip, up 2.2% as well as making more frequent trips, up 0.8%, which contributed a combined €24.4m to their overall performance.
Tesco holds 23.4% of the market, with value growth of 7.1% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their trips to store by 4.2%, contributing €32.5m to the chain’s overall performance.
SuperValu holds 20.3% of the market with growth of 5.2%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 24.5 trips over the latest 12 weeks. This increase in the number of shopping trips contributed an additional €37.2m to its performance.
Meanwhile, Lidl holds a 13.5% market share, up 5.3%m with bigger trips driving an additional €10.7m in sales. Aldi’s market share stood at 11.5%, rise of 5.6% with more trips to store behind an additional €19.6m in sales.
