Grocery Sales Growth Accelerates in Northern Ireland
Latest data from Kantar shows the Northern Irish grocery market recorded growth of 10.4% during the 52 weeks to 1 November. This figure accelerated in the latest 12 weeks to 12.9% as NI entered its circuit breaker lockdown in mid-October.
Commenting on individual retailer performances, Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, said: “Tesco, Northern Ireland’s largest retailer, grew its sales by 10.7% year-on-year and added 0.1 percentage points to its market share.
Extra essentials
“Shoppers picking up extra essentials in store increased trip volumes by 16.2% and contributed an additional £177.9m to the grocer’s overall sales.
“It was a similar story at Asda and Sainsbury’s, which increased sales by 5.4% and 10.2% respectively. Both retailers’ customers added additional items to their weekly shops as people ate more meals at home, boosting trip volumes by 22.1% at Asda and 9.0% at Sainsbury’s.
Lidl strongest performer – again
“Lidl was top of the table as the strongest performing retailer once again this period – growing ahead of the market at 14.8% over the 52 weeks and gaining 0.2 percentage points in share. Significantly larger trips, with volumes up 18.3%, contributed an additional £35m to Lidl’s overall growth. Lidl was also the only retailer to welcome new shoppers through its doors this period, which added £1.9m to its total sales.”
