Sainsbury's gains share as discounters claim fifth of grocery market, says Kantar

Discounters Aldi and Lidl have reached a combined share of 10% of the British grocery market for the first time, while Sainsbury's became the first major supermarket to claim a market share increase for over a year.

The overall grocery market remained slow in the 12 weeks to 8 November, with sales up by 0.5% according to data from industry research house Kantar Worldpanel, down from the 0.8% announced a month ago.

Revenues continue to be held back by the fierce price war that saw prices down by 1.7% on a like-for-like basis.

Sainsbury’s market share increasing by 0.2 percentage points to 16.6% thanks to a 1.5% increase in sales and, as a food-focused retailer, the company traditionally increases its market share over Christmas so could increase its share further by the end of the year.

Sales fell at the rest of the major retailers, with Tesco down by 2.5% and Morrisons sales falling 1.7%.

Asda sales declined 3.5% but the WalMart-owned chain recently announced a slimlined product range, further price investment and increasing click-and-collect opportunities in its stores.

But the continuing rise of the discounters remains a concern for the 'big four', signalling no end to the price battle.

“If you look back as recently as 2012 Aldi and Lidl only held a 5% share of the market, and it had previously taken them nine years to double their combined share from 2.5%," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.

He noted that in the last 12 weeks the two retailers have attracted another additional million shoppers compared with last year while average spend per trip has increased by 4% to £18.85, which is 78p ahead of the total retailer average.

"The discounters show no sign of stopping and with plans to open hundreds of stores between them, they’ll noticeably widen their reach to the British population.”

Lidl’s market share reached a new record high of 4.4%, increasing by 0.7 percentage points on last year thanks to a sales growth of 19%.

Aldi grew sales by 16.5%, keeping its market share at 5.6% for the fifth consecutive month.