Summer sun alters shopping habits in NI
Northern Ireland’s grocery price inflation edged up further to 11.78%, meaning value is still top of mind for shoppers, who relied heavily on promotional offers as they prepared for the first summer bank holiday of the year.
The latest insights from Worldpanel by Numerator revealed that take-home grocery sales in the region increased by 1.8% in the year to 9th August compared to the same period last year.
The summer heatwave resulted in consumers spending less time in stores, with trips down 10.4% versus last year and volumes continuing to decline, down 8.2% year-on-year. However, shoppers reducing their time in store resulted in fewer but bigger trips and increased per trip volume contributed an additional £78 million to the overall market.
Promotions now hold 33.1% in value spend and an additional £90 million was spent on promotion in the latest 52 weeks compared to a year ago.
Meanwhile, branded ranges continue to hold majority value share in Northern Irish shoppers’ baskets; with 54.9% share, branded goods contributed an additional £134 million in value sales compared to last year. Premium own-label ranges grew in value by 12.5%, adding an additional £20.5 million in value sales to take-home grocery.
The continued warm weather continued to impact what shoppers have been putting in their baskets, with sales of alcoholic beverage increasing by 19.7% over the 12 weeks to 19th August. Chocolate (+20.2%), frozen ice cream and sorbet (+6.9%) and soft drinks (+6.4%) all performed well over the same period, while shoppers spent almost an additional £1 million on suncare as they navigated the heatwave.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Worldpanel by Numerator said this summer’s heatwave has had a considerable impact on how people in Northern Ireland shop.
“Fewer trips and lower volumes tell only part of the story: shoppers are being more deliberate, filling their shopping trolleys and baskets with more each visit, and leaning heavily on promotions to manage rising prices,” said Emer.
Amongst the retailers, Tesco, Northern Ireland’s largest take-home grocer, leads in value share at 39.3% and grew ahead of the market with 7.4% value growth. New shoppers and larger baskets contributed a combined additional £115 million.
Sainsbury’s held at 17.3% market share and grew in value by 4.8%. The retailer continues to grow by recruiting new shoppers, who added an uplift of £44 million to performance.
Asda sits at 14.1% value share, growing behind the market by -7.9%. Lidl, meanwhile, holds 9.8% value share, up 8.5% in value growth. Existing Lidl shoppers picked up more items per trip, contributing an uplift of just over £31 million.
