Premiumisation Puts The pressure On Asda

This 4.3% growth sets the baseline that retailers must match if they are to hold share, and fortunes continue to be mixed among the big four retailers. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have delivered another strong set of results with both lifting their market share and growing ahead of the market at 5.5% and 5.9% respectively.

Of particular note is the unabated recovery of Sainsbury’s which has recorded a year-on-year share growth for its nineteenth successive report.  

By contrast, while Tesco remains largely unchanged Asda continues to underperform the market with a growth of just 2.6% and has seen a dip in its market share for the ninth consecutive report.

Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel explains:
“While uncertainty in the economy means that value is still important consumers are placing increasing importance on the freshness and quality of the food they buy. This is evident in the premiumisation we have seen in the grocery market and the strong performances of Sainsbury’s and Waitrose – which recorded another admirable growth of 9.3% this month. Recent statements from Asda’s chief executive Andy Clarke show that the retailer has recognised the need to adjust its strategy and we’ve started to see a greater emphasis on quality in the latest advertising campaign.”

The Discounters continue to languish behind the market with only Lidl recording a slight increase in market share this month and Netto experiencing a decline in its year-on-year growth of 6.0%.

By contrast the Independents maintain their footing in the market following a good summer – a tribute to the smarter operators remaining in the convenience sector.

Meanwhile the Co-operative conversion programme is nearly over and Somerfield has all but disappeared from the high street with just a 1.0% share left in the market.  

An update on inflation
Grocery inflation has increased and the figure for the 12 week ending period 5 September 2010 is 2.7%*.  According to Kantar Worldpanel this increase is caused by a comparison with falling prices a year ago rather than sharp commodity price increases which have featured in recent news items.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available.  It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

                   
* = Percentage Share of Total Grocers

The latest grocery share figures and comparative data for the last three years are now available as an app for the iPhone. To download Kantar Worldpanel’s free ‘Grocer Share’ app please visit the Apple iTunes Store.

To view the video commentary from Edward Garner or to get further information please visit www.kantarworldpanel.com and select ‘Insights’ or follow Edward Garner on Twitter here .  

These findings are based on Kantar Worldpanel data for the 12 weeks to 5 September 2010. Kantar Worldpanel monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in Great Britain.

All data discussed in the above announcement is based on the value of items being bought by these consumers, Kantar will only support data that is published in the context we have presented it and our own interpretation of these findings.

We cannot be held responsible for any other interpretation of these findings.

About Kantar:
For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com

14 September 2010