Morrisons was the big winner on the latest set of supermarket sales figures released by Nielsen, even though sales for the overall grocery sector slowed down.
In the 12 weeks to 27 December, Morrisons increased its market share to 10.6% and saw sales grow by 9.1%.
Sales at Asda grew 6.1% and the retailer boosted market share to 16.1%, Nielsen said, while Iceland sales jumped 14.1%.
Marks & Spencer witnessed its share being cut from 4.3% to 4.1%, and its food sales dipped 0.5%. The figures come after its own official results were published.
The market share of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose remained static, the firm added.
Mike Watkins, senior manager of retailer services, said: “A late surge to food retailers helped sales but not enough to off set the weak demand at the start of December.
“This performance is reasonable and it can be said that the grocery sector has certainly held up better than the high street but in the main, growth has been driven by food inflation.
“Volume growths at the Multiples were up a little at +0.7% year-on-year so did show improvements over those we saw in the late summer.”
He concluded: “Morrisons have consistently outperformed the market for the last 12 months and have out-traded some very strong and established competitors.
“Retailers with keen pricing and a value for money offering have really performed well over Christmas. It is evident that consumers really did cut back on the luxuries and make do this year.”
Sainsbury’s reported strong sales this morning, claiming success in its own label ranges.
