Autumn comforts boost NI’s grocery spending as shoppers settle back into routine
Spending patterns shifted across Northern Ireland as consumers settled back into routines and autumn began, with the grocery sector here feeling the impact.
In the year to 5th October, shoppers spent £4.4 billion, a 2.1% increase on the previous year. And although people made 3.3% fewer trips to stores, they bought more items each time, adding £69.3 million to overall market growth.
Meanwhile, grocery inflation here now stands at 3.69%, up slightly from 3.38% last month.
With the colder weather returning, shoppers spent an extra £68k on fresh soup, £350k on bakery bread, £4.8 million on biscuits and £2.1 million on coffee, showing a clear move towards comfort and routine.
As Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Worldpanel by Numerator said, consumers continue to look for best value when shopping.
“Branded goods continue to perform well, with spending up £47 million, a 2% year-on-year increase, lifting their value share to 55%,” said Emer.
“Own-label ranges also grew strongly, up 2.1% as shoppers spent an extra £39 million, taking their share to 43.1% of the market by value.
“To stretch their budgets, consumers are combining own-label products with promotions. Discounted items now account for 23% of value sales, with over £1 billion spent on promotions in total.”
Meanwhile, Tesco remains Northern Ireland’s largest grocer, growing its market share to 37.6%, up 7.6% from last year. This growth came from both new shoppers and bigger baskets, adding £91 million to its performance.
Sainsbury’s follows with a 16.9% share, up 3.3% year on year, boosted by new shopper recruitment worth £24.7 million.
Asda holds a 15.3% value share this period, while Lidl increased its share to 9.3%, up 4.5%, as more customers visited its stores more often, contributing an uplift of £9.3 million.
