RETAIL behemoth Tesco has got its lustre back in Northern Ireland, according to the latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel.
It added a market share of 0.3 per cent in the 52 weeks to the end of January, buoyed by a livelier Christmas trading period.
It gives Tesco an overall current market share in the north of 34.7 per cent.
That's well ahead of with Sainsbury's, which slipped back from a 17.8 per cent share of the Northern Ireland basket to 17.3 per cent.
And that was enough to see it dip to third place behind Asda, whose current market share is 17.4 per cent despite falling back by 0.1 per cent on a year earlier.
Those established players continue to seen their slice of the pie eroded by Lidl, though its share rose by just a tenth of a percentage point to 5.3 per cent over the period.
The symbol brands - which include the likes of Centra, Spar, Mace and others - retained the same 8.6 per cent market share they enjoyed in the year to January 2016 according to Kantar.
In quarterly statistics for the Republic, for the first time Dunnes Stores has held its position as Ireland’s largest grocer for two consecutive months over the 12 weeks ending February.
David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Dunnes’ shoppers are adding more to their baskets, helping the retailer to maintain the title of Ireland’s largest supermarket this month.
"The grocer’s 'Shop & Save' initiative is continuing to influence customers, with the average basket featuring an extra one and a half items – an additional €3 per trip and €25 million for the retailer in the past 12 weeks.”
Sales at Dunnes grew by 4.6 per cent and the retailer increased its market share to 22.9 per cent, up from 22.5 per cent last year.
Mr Berry added: “SuperValu remains hot on the heels of Dunnes, with a 22.6 per cent share of the market. It also managed to convince shoppers to splash a little more cash. The average customer spent over €1 more per trip, causing sales to grow by 0.5 per cent amounting to an extra €3 million for the grocer.
“With Supervalu planning to open three new stores and refurbish a host of others, it will be expecting to experience a boost in sales later in the year.”
Following three months of steady growth, Tesco sales dropped by 1.0 per cent in the Republic as 11 days of staff strikes led to disruption for the retailer.
