5 May 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
In an effort to get everything they need in one go and cater for all the additional meals and snacks eaten at home, shoppers are adding an extra four items to their baskets each visit, increasing their monthly grocery bill by €118 on average.
New figures published today by Kantar Ireland show that SuperValu is “Ireland’s number one supermarket”, with the largest share of the Irish grocery retail sector.
SuperValu is a franchise system owned by Cork based Musgrave Group. Responding to today’s good news SuperValu said:
“This is testament to the remarkable effort and dedication of our independent retailers and their staff as well as the implementation of protective measures such as plexiglass at tills and increased contactless payment limits for staff and customers a very early stage during the Covid-19 crisis.
Additionally, our robust supply chain ensured that shelves remain fully stocked from the outset of the crisis. These measures mean that shoppers can always buy groceries without making multiple trips.
While it remains an intensely competitive market and the cost of doing business rose during this period, our performance also builds on steady growth seen during the third and fourth quarters of last year, which were a result of price cuts as well as a significant investment in our in-store value offering and range.
SuperValu’s strong roots in communities across the country means that we are committed to serving vulnerable groups and our trusted retailer network continues to provide these essential supports, which is reflected in the growth of online shopping.”
The latest figures from Kantar also show that take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 17.2% in the 12 weeks to 19 April as shoppers adjusted to life under lockdown.
David Berry, managing director – Ireland at Kantar, explained:
“It’s been a challenging few weeks and we’ve all been grateful for how hard the grocery retailers have been working to keep us fed and watered. In the absence of dinners with friends and lunch on the go, many more meals are being eaten in the home and grocery sales have risen accordingly. But social distancing means people are less likely to be buying categories like clothes, food on the go, and general merchandise – which means, for some retailers, the overall picture will be more modest.”
David Berry continued:
“The change in shopper behaviour adds up to an extra €440 million spent on grocery in the past 12 weeks, but this additional spend is impacting individual retailers in different ways. Before lockdown, Dunnes customers already spent 80% more than the average shopper each visit at €43.80, which means the retailer has experienced less of a jump in spend per trip than those grocers starting from a lower base. Dunnes is growing slightly behind the rest of the market as a result, but these are extremely narrow margins and only 0.5 percentage points separates the three retailers at the top of the table.”
Meanwhile, Lidl was the “fastest growing” of all the retailers during the full 12-week period, boosting sales by 22.1% and increasing its market share to 12% while Aldi grew by 15.6% to hold an 11.8% share.
In the shorter term, SuperValu’s large store estate saw it benefit from shoppers choosing to visit outlets closer to home, and it was the only retailer not to experience reduced footfall during the past four weeks.
Demand for online grocery has soared as people try to limit their contact with others and 10% of Irish households received an online grocery delivery in the past four weeks compared with 6% last year.
David Berry commented:
“An additional €20.6 million was spent online this month and it’s heartening that the number of retired people getting groceries delivered has doubled in the past 12 weeks, indicating the take up of delivery slots among more vulnerable groups.”