Business

Grocery sales in Northern Ireland soar 17.1 per cent during lockdown

Grocery sales in Northern Ireland soared by 17.1 per cent during 12 weeks of the lockdown
Grocery sales in Northern Ireland soared by 17.1 per cent during 12 weeks of the lockdown Grocery sales in Northern Ireland soared by 17.1 per cent during 12 weeks of the lockdown

GROCERY sales at Northern Ireland supermarkets soared by 17.1 per cent in the latest 12 weeks of lockdown, figures from retail analysts Kantar show.

And in the year to July 12, the region's overall grocery market experienced growth of 6.8 per cent.

According to Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, sales at Asda were up this month by 1.6 per cent thanks to its customers making the biggest additions to their weekly food shop, with basket sizes growing by 15.3 per cent.

But that growth is behind its closest rival Sainsbury’s, which increased sales by 7.4 per cent. Its success was driven by shoppers making larger trips, up 7.2 per cent.

She added: “Tesco, which holds the biggest share of the market, grew its sales by 7.5 per cent year on year, adding 0.3 percentage points of share this period.

“Shoppers continued to buy more when in store, with volumes up 7.6 per cent on average, and prices were 1.5 per cent higher than this time last year. Tesco was once again the only retailer to attract new shoppers in the past year.

“Lidl maintains its crown as the best performing retailer, increasing sales by 10.3 per cent year on year and bringing its market share to 6.2 per cent, gaining 0.2 percentage points.

“Higher average prices in store, up 1.8 per cent, and larger shops, which grew by 10.9 per cent, both contributed to the retailer’s strong numbers this month.”

According to Kantar, shopper trends in the most recent 12 weeks reflected the north’s continued lockdown restrictions.

Ms Healy added: “We saw sales of hair colourants grow by 83 per cent as shoppers tried to replicate the work of closed hair salons and take-home alcohol sales were also boosted, growing by 73.5 per cent, as pubs and restaurants remained closed until July 3.”