The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, for the 12 weeks ending 30 October 2011, show the grocery market growing at 4.6% per year. However, this remains below the inflation rate of 6.1%, as households try to manage down their spending - a dominant trend for most of 2011.
Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “It comes as no surprise that, as shoppers try to control their budgets, an aggressive stance on price is driving retailer communication st
rategies. We have ‘The Big Price Drop’ from Tesco, ‘The Price Guarantee’ from Asda, ‘Brand Match’ from Sainsbury’s and ‘Price Crunch’ from Morrisons. The end result would appear to be a zero-sum game, as the performances from the big four show only marginal differences this period, with no outright winner.”
Asda has posted a growth rate of 5.1% for this period, beating market growth for the first time since the beginning of 2010. This respectable growth rate is echoed in all of the top four retailers.
The discounters continue to remain strong, particularly Aldi who have seen a year-on-year growth of 18.8% and an increase of its share from 2.3% to 2.6%.
The economic climate is favouring the value-for-money offering from frozen foods and Iceland has posted growth of 11.6% - the highest since the 2008/9 recession.
Edward continues: “Given the universal emphasis on price across the sector, the big four retailers will need to differentiate themselves. Own-label brands are an obvious way of doing this. We are already seeing double-digit growth for Tesco Finest and substantial revamps for own-label ranges at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – suggesting this might be a key battleground going forward.”
Thanks to Kantar Worldpanel for this information.
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