Sainsbury’s has lost customers to its rivals for the first time in the recession, according to data from TNS Worldpanel seen by the Times.
The report claimed £11m of spending was switched from Sainsbury’s to its competitors in the 12 weeks to November.
Sainsbury’s gained just £700,000 from Asda and had smaller gains against Netto and Farm Foods in the period.
TNS said about £2m of spending was switched to arch rival Tesco, which suggested its introduction of double points on its Clubcard loyalty scheme had tempted customers back from Sainsbury’s.
The report said upmarket retailer Waitrose, whose sales have rocketed since it introduced the Waitrose Essentials value range in March 2009, took £4m of spending from Sainsbury’s. At the other end of the scale, discount retailer Aldi took £2.5m of business from Sainsbury’s.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/
