UK grocery market slides but Morrisons continues to grow, Kantar says

The UK’s grocery market slipped into decline in the second quarter of 2015, figures released on Tuesday showed.

According to the latest survey from Kantar Worldpanel, sales in the sector fell 0.1% year-on-year, driven by a 1.6% decline at both Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which brought their market share to 28.6% and 16.5%, respectively.

The figures represent a 0.3% and 0.2% decline in market share for the two retail giants compared to the same period of 2014.

Asda saw its sales decline 3.5%, bringing its market share down 0.6% to 16.5%, while sales at the Co-operative were flat, although it was the first time in almost four years that the group had performed better than the rest of the market.

However, there was much better news for Morrisons, as the group registered the largest sales increase among the ‘big four’ for the second month in a row, figures from Kantar revealed.

Sales at the retailer grew 0.6%, driven by a steady increase in online shopping, as Morrisons’ market share edged 0.1% higher to 11%, its first market share gains since 2011.

“Last seen in November, the return to marginal decline across the grocery market reflects both falling prices and only steady volume growth,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

“Sales volumes are up 2% compared to a year ago but are not anticipated to accelerate, even with an improving economy, as demand for groceries has remained broadly steady since before the recession.”

As of 10:14 on Tuesday, Tesco shares were down 2.35%, while Sainsbury’s and Morrisons were 1.35% 0.38% in the red respectively.