Supermarkets increased sales by 6.6% in the four weeks to 11 July 2009, according to the latest data from market analysts Nielsen.
The increase was driven by strong sales in fresh foods, soft drinks and general merchandise.
The recent warm summer weather and improvements in household spending also helped sales volumes increase by 2% across the total grocery sector and by 3% across the grocery multiples.
Nielsen said these were the best underlying growths it has reported for more than two years, and provided “clear signs of improving consumer confidence.”
Mike Watkins, senior manager for retailer services at Nielsen, said: “Shoppers continue to respond to offers with another all-time high for promotional spend at 33% of all fast-moving consumer goods spend in the last four weeks.
“As a result, all retailers are attracting new shoppers but the loyalty and commitment of these new shoppers is going to be lower.”
Nielsen reported that soft drinks and BWS are seeing a long-awaited boost, helped by warmer temperatures and unprecedented promotional activity. General merchandise also saw high single-digit growths in July, which will be good news for the ‘big four’ supermarkets.
Watkins added: “Sainsbury continue to fire on all cylinders, with frequency of visit up by 6% – better than most other retailers in the last four weeks, as shoppers maximised spend on fresh foods during the heatwave but at the same time optimised their spend on packaged grocery.
“Asda have strong growth in grocery but also in general merchandise, which will include clothing and indicates that Asda have the potential, like Tesco, to continue to steal recessionary market share from non-food channels.
“The recent wet weather, combining with the start of the school holidays, could make the level of improvement short-lived. But as last year was a washout both in terms of weather and sales, we are still likely to see good year-on-year improvements from food retailers over the rest of the summer.”
Weekly share of grocery market spend
Tesco 28.4%
Asda 15.7%
Sainsbury 14.6%
Morrisons 10.6%
Co-op 6.2%
Waitrose 3.6%
M&S 3.6%
Somerfield 2.8%
Iceland 1.8%
Change in value sales
Tesco +5.3%
Asda +7.7%
Sainsbury +6.4%
Morrisons +8.0%
Co-op +4.2%
Waitrose +8.4%
M&S +1.8%
Somerfield -17.3%
Iceland +8.8%
The figures are based on 12 weeks sales through to 11 July 2009, compared with the same 12-week period in 2008
Source: Nielsen Total Till, Nielsen Homescan
