THE value of sales at grocers across the north grew by 1.5 per cent in the last year, latest figures have shown.
According to market analysts Kantar Worldpanel, all major supermarkets in the north, as well as traditional corner shop grocers, experienced an increase in the value of their sales in the 12 months to January 29 when compared to the previous year.
Tesco continued to maintain the majority of the market share, with more than a third of shoppers in the north choosing to give its stores their custom.
Their closest competitor, Asda, was a significant distance behind in second place with 17.4 per cent of the market share, followed by Sainsbury's at 17.2 per cent.
Asda and Sainsbury's saw their market share fall when compared to the same period in 2016, by 0.5 and 0.1 percent respectively.
Tesco also enjoyed the greatest increase in the value of sales among the top four chains, racking up a 2.2 per cent year-on-year jump.
Looking at figures from the Republic of Ireland, on the other hand, overall grocery sales growth fell to 3 per cent, down from 4.6 per cent the previous month.
Dunnes Stores led the way in terms of market share in the south, with 22.7 per cent of the total. SuperValu and Tesco were close behind with 22.5 and 22.4 per cent, respectively.
David Berry, director of Kantar Worldpanel, said the drop in overall growth was a positive for shoppers.
"The slowdown in overall market growth has led to even stronger competition between the major supermarkets and it’s tight at the top of the market share table – only 0.3 percentage points separate Dunnes Stores, SuperValu and Tesco," he said.
"This points to a good year for consumers as the retailers battle each other fiercely for their all-important grocery spend, keeping price inflation low. Grocery prices are only 0.7 per cent higher than they were this time last year – which for the average shopper only amounts to an extra 17 cents per trip."
Elsewhere, Aldi continued to set the pace as the fastest growing retailer, with shoppers now visiting the retailer 8.7 times every 12 weeks, compared to 8.1 times for the same period last year, helping to increase sales by 6.3 per cent.
Aldi now captures 10.6 per cent of the grocery market, ahead of the 10.3 per cent from last year.
The Kantar Worldpanel figures were collated by analysing the household grocery spending habits of thousands of households across the north and south.
