Tesco loses share as supermarket sector prices fall further, says Kantar

The supermarket price war was continuing to rage in full force to the benefit of consumers, who were opting to pocket the savings, survey compiler Kantar Worldpanel said.

In the 12-week period ending on 11 October overall supermarket sales were up by only 0.8% in comparison to a year ago, while like-for-like grocery prices were 1.7% lower.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, highlighted how like-for-like grocery prices had now fallen for 12 consecutive months.

Together with overall volume growth of only 2%, that equated to an average annual saving of £58 for each household.

Sainsbury’s sales increased 1.1% to £3.96bn, thanks to a strong showing from online and local stores, but Tesco (-1.7%), Asda (-3%) and Morrisons (-1%) all registered a decline.

At discounters Lidl and Aldi it was a different story, with the rate of growth in sales rebounding to above 17%, rising by 17.9% and 17.6%, respectively.

The market shares of Lidl and Aldi improved to 4.3% and 5.6%, respectively, from 3.7% and 4.8% one year ago.

Tesco’s market share dropped to 28.1% from 28.8%, Morrisons to 10.8% from 10.9% and Asda’s to 16.6% from 17.3%, while Sainsbury’s remained at 16.1%.

This mirrors the findings of similar research also released on Tuesday by Nielsen.

Kantar flagged the expected full-launch of Amazon Fresh early in 2016, which could "be a major disruptor, bringing down average basket sizes, accommodating on demand shopping, and accelerating the growth of the whole online market,” though City analysts have been undecided over how this new entrant will effect the market but generally feel it will benefit online specialist Ocado.