Shoppers buy less as prices increase

SHOPPERS are buying 4% fewer groceries in a bid to cut back as they are faced with rising prices.

Consumers are also continuing to trade down to cheaper items with own brand products now accounting for 35% of grocery spend, compared with 33.5% last year.

Figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland for the 12 weeks ending March 20 showed, however, that the grocery market is still growing in Ireland. Market growth dipped last month to 0.8% compared with 1.6% in February.

With prices in that time rising by 5.3% shoppers cut back on the amount of groceries they bought with the average household reducing the amount of goods it purchased by 4%.

David Berry of Kantar Worldpanel Ireland said the biggest impact of the cutbacks was felt in the fresh and chilled sector, with the average household buying 4.7% fewer fresh or chilled products than three months ago.

“This shift towards reduced basket size demonstrates that consumers are cutting back where they can,” he said.

There were mixed performances from the retailers this month with only Tesco, Aldi and Lidl growing ahead of the market.

Mr Berry said value conscious shoppers are continuing to switch more of their grocery spend to the German discounters, with Aldi growing its share to 4% compared to 3.2% a year ago and Lidl increasing its share from 5.6% in 2010 to 5.9%. Tesco increased its share to 27.2%.

SuperValu posted a drop in market share, falling from 20.1% to 19.8% in the past 12 months.

“However, SuperValu’s recent announcement of future store openings demonstrates its investment in building its market share, suggesting the outlook for the retailer is positive,” said Mr Berry.

Dunnes Stores saw its sales stabilise last month and it retained its 23.3% share of the market.

This news comes at a time when figures from the Central Statistics Office show the cost of living is up 3% in the last year.