Data reveals fewer supermarket visits
Reduced shopping frequency is a pandemic trend that appears to be sticking.
THE latest grocery sales figures suggest consumer shopping behaviour has started to stabilise in the UK – with one pandemic trend likely to continue into the future.
Kantar research for the 12 weeks to 31 October found that total grocery sales fell by 1.9% compared to the same period in 2020. However, this still remained above pre-pandemic trading at 7.3% higher than the same period in 2019.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “The general trend towards bigger, less frequent trips to supermarkets seems set to stay.
“Households visited the supermarket 15.7 times in the past month on average.”
The data from Kantar also revealed that Tesco was the only retailer to experience year-on-year growth over the 12 weeks to 31 October with sales rising in stores by 0.3% for the supermarket giant.
The convenience channel also performed well, according to the latest NielsenIQ figures. Data for the four weeks ending 6 November revealed year-on-year growth of 2.1% for the channel.
Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s head of retailer and business insight, said: “Across the industry the average spend per visit has increased for the first time since July, up to £18.60 as shoppers get back into a regular grocery shopping mindset.”
