New figures show that take-home grocery sales were up 5.7% over the four weeks to June 15, compared to the same time last year as hot weather and the June bank holiday saw Irish shoppers out and about more often.
The latest grocery data from Kantar shows that shoppers were in store an average of 22.7 times in June, contributing an additional €28.8m to the grocery market’s overall performance.
Kantar noted that this is the highest summer frequency recorded since June 2021 when frequency was an average of 21.4.
Today’s figures show that grocery price inflation currently stands at 5.3% compared to the same 12-week end period last year.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, said the rise in average prices is clearly affecting both sales performance and shopper behaviour.
“As grocery bills rise alongside other household expenses, Irish consumers are cautious with their spending and actively seek out promotions to secure the best value,” she added.
Kantar said that shoppers bought 6% more suncream compared to the same time last year, while they also spent a combined additional €11.6m on prepared fresh fruit, water and dilutes, smoothies and juices in an effort to keep cool.
Convenience was also a priority as the sun shone with an additional €2.4m spent on chilled ready meals, it added.
Shoppers spent €802m on promotional lines during the latest 12-week period, a 15.7% increase compared to the previous year.
Categories seeing significant growth included table sauces, mixers, carbonates, frozen confectionery and beer and cider, which all grew ahead of the total market for promotional lines.
Kantar said that brands and own label both performed strongly, growing at 6.2%. Shoppers spent an additional €197m on these ranges compared to last year.
Meanwhile, total online holds 5.9% value share of the market and sees sales rising by 9.1% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €17.5m through this channel.
Supermarket share
Over the latest 12 week period, Dunnes holds a 23.6% market share, with sales growth of 8% year-on-year. Dunnes shoppers returned to store more often, up 5.6% which contributed a combined €43.9m to their overall performance.
Tesco holds 23.3% of the market, with value growth of 7.7% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their trips to store by 4.4%, which contributed €34.1m to its overall performance.
Meanwhile, SuperValu holds 20.2% of the market with growth of 5.6%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 25 trips over the latest 12 weeks – the highest shopping trips seen since July 2023. This increase in the number of shopping trips contributed an additional €51.7m to its performance.
Lidl holds 14% market share, up 8.5%, as it recruited new shoppers in-store, while encouraging consumers to make larger trips, resulting in an additional €13m in sales.
Aldi holds 11.8% market share, up 6.4% as increased store trips and new shoppers drove an additional €26.9m in sales in the period under review.
