NI shoppers seek romantic treats at home, increasing take-home sales
Demand for romantic treats were the order for February, resulting in a 2.1% increase in take-home sales at Northern Ireland’s grocers, to just over £4.4 billion in the year to 22nd February 2026.
Shoppers were in a celebratory mood for Valentine’s Day, spending an additional £2.6 million on champagne and sparkling wine and a further £2.3 million on wine.
However, as the latest insight from Worldpanel by Numerator show, convenience was still front and centre for NI shoppers, with 55% of households buying pre-made pancakes and spending £4.2 million on the category in total this Pancake Day.
And despite the uptick in sales, trips to stores declined further, down 8.1% on last year – however shoppers are purchasing more each trip, adding an additional £114 million to the market.
As Eimear Faughnan, Head of Retail for Ireland at Worldpanel by Numerator, points out, over the last 12 weeks shoppers have been stocking up for key seasonal events.
“Shoppers sought convenience and affordable options during this period, with frozen ready meals featuring more in baskets and the number of packs bought increasing by 15.5%, adding £505,000 to the category,” said Eimear.
“Healthy topping options for pancakes, including blueberries and strawberries gained new shoppers, increasing by 6.7 and 2.0 percentage points respectively.”
Despite a backdrop of higher prices, branded goods maintained their lead over own label, with 55.6% value share of the market – up 3.7%, or an additional £87.3 million.
“It is a different picture for own label this year, which grew marginally by 0.1%, adding £1.2 million,” added Eimear. “Premium was the standout performer within own label ranges, growing by 10.8%.
“There were more promotions on offer this year, as grocers looked to attract shoppers. Packs on promotion held 23.4% market value share, up 3.2 percentage points on last year. Overall, shoppers spent an additional £234 million on promotions compared to the same time last year.”
Meanwhile, Tesco remains Northern Ireland’s largest grocer, growing its share of the market by 2.2 percentage points over the four weeks, to 38.7%. This growth came from both new shoppers and bigger baskets, adding £123 million to its performance.
Sainsbury’s follows with a 17.3% share, up 5.7% year-on-year, while Asda now holds 14.6% value share this period. Lidl increased its share to 9.6%, up by 6.7%, welcoming new shoppers and seeing existing customers continue to buy more per trip, contributing a combined uplift of just over £10 million.
