Sport and sunshine drive growth
Photo from Shutter Stock / Michael Tubi
A SUMMER of sun and sport helped to drive growth for UK supermarkets.
With the heat wave and Euros 2020 finals closing out July, UK shoppers flocked to the shops for summer celebrations according to sales data.
In the 12-week period to 11 July, Kantar found that customers spent £1.2 billion on alcohol, which was an increase of 24% compared to the same period in 2019.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “It was a huge month for British football, with major tournaments usually providing a significant boost to supermarkets.”
The warm weather may have helped lift off sales in-store, but the easing of lockdown restrictions also seems to have impacted online grocery retail performance.
Nielsen reported a 3.6% drop in online grocery sales during the four weeks leading to the 17 July.
Kantar also reported a drop of 81,000 customers shopping for online groceries, reporting the lowest numbers since February 2020.
While online sales suffered, the discounters gained ground, with Kantar reporting increased market share for Lidl and Aldi of 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.
Despite the positive performances for some, Mike Watkins, UK head of retailer and business insight, warned of “two possible headwinds on the horizon.”
“The first is that as consumer demand increases in recreation and leisure, this will dampen FMCG spend. The second, is that four in 10 households are now watching their spend more than they did before the pandemic,” he said.
