Grocery sales slow but discounters continue to grow

The British grocery market grew at the slowest pace for 11 years during the past 12 weeks, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Tesco suffered a 3.7% drop in like-for-like sales in the three months to 24 May and its market share slumped from 30.5% to 29% – the biggest fall since Kantar’s records started in 1994.

Morrisons’ share dropped from 11.6% to 10.9%, Sainsbury’s grew slightly to 16.7%, while Asda remained at 17.1%.

Discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to grow quickly, boosting their market share to 4.7% and 3.6% respectively.

Waitrose’s strategy to be “everything that the discounters aren’t” has helped keep its record 5.1% stake.

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said the acceleration of the retailer’s £200m price-cutting plan had hit short-term sales.

“The first quarter has also seen a continuation of the challenging consumer trends in the UK, reflecting still subdued levels of spending,” he said.