Grocery sales jump 4.5% as convenience stores boost performance

Total till grocery sales remained strong in July with a growth of +4.5% as UK shoppers spent £3.6bn on groceries at convenience stores in the last four weeks ending 13 August, according to the latest data from NielsenIQ. Convenience store sales accounted for 28.9% of sales within this period and also experienced an uplift in volume sales (+2.7%) compared with volume sales at the grocery multiples, which declined by -3.8%. According to data from NielsenIQ, 21% of the total sales within convenience stores were on fresh foods where value sales increased +13%. Sales of frozen foods jumped +29% as did produce (+8%) within this channel. Shoppers also purchased more as they sought to socialise and celebrate the warm weather and shop locally. Key category volume growths included ice cubes (+44%), ice cream (+31%) and frozen desserts and cakes (+31%). Across the industry as a whole, the summer holidays increased travel opportunities while the summer heatwave that took place in mid-July and early August encouraged shoppers to visit stores more often, leading to an uplift to in-store visits by 8%. However, the boost to in-store visits came at the expense of online sales, which fell by 8.7% and the online share of FMCG sales fell to 11.3%, down from 11.5% in July and 12.9% share a year ago. In terms of retailer performance in the last 12 week period ending 13 August, Aldi maintained a 10% market share, making it the fourth retailer in terms of sales, behind Tesco (26.8%), Sainsbury's (13.8%) and Asda (12.6%). Morrisons and Waitrose were the only retailers to experience a sales decline over the 12 weeks. M&S sales were up over 7% and shopper penetration in the last four weeks reached almost 20% of GB households. Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK head of Retailer and Business Insight, said: “It is inflation which is driving topline sales across the industry, but shoppers continue to be very cautious about how much they spend on groceries, resulting in a fall in volume sales at supermarkets. “However, the hot weather over the last few weeks has helped volumes turn positive at convenience stores, with an increase in purchasing of drinks, frozen and fresh foods in particular. Shoppers made extra visits to their local stores when the sun came out and sales at Co-ops increased 9% in the last four weeks, making them the fastest growing retailer during the recent hot weather.” Watkins added: “The market may have recovered from a low point in March, but we are now seeing the start of ‘peak inflation’ and we anticipate shoppers will need to reign in their spending again after the ‘back to school’ period in a few weeks’ time. “As inflation continues to bite, retailers that focus on saving shoppers’ money will be the ones that maintain sales momentum and it will those who are most agile and are able to adapt to another change in shopper behaviour that will be able to weather the storm. The battle for loyalty is not going away especially in a time where basket spends are falling and shopper promiscuity is up.”