Dunnes ups share of grocery market as smaller stores suffer 10% hit

Dunnes Stores increased its share of the grocery market in the run-up to Christmas as the major retailers dominated, with smaller stores taking a near 10% hit in the most competitive trading period of the year.

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel Ireland, for the 12 weeks ending Dec 23, 2012, show Dunnes increased its share from 23.9% in 2011, to 24.3%, posting sales growth of 1.9%. This was considerably ahead of the market growth rate of 0.3% in the period.

Tesco and SuperValu performed broadly in line with the market, with Tesco holding market share at 27.8% and SuperValu dipping marginally to 19.5%, down from 19.8% a year earlier.

However, the major losers have been the smaller symbol stores and independent retailers who have seen their market share fall 9.8% to 11.4%, from 12.6% a year earlier.

Commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, David Berry, said: “The strong performance of Dunnes comes after a prolonged period of under-performance, with market share hitting a low point of 21.4% in September.

“The boost in share over Christmas has regained some of this lost ground and places the retailer in a more competitive position for 2013.”

Mr Berry said growth across the grocery market remains subdued at just 0.3%. This is despite an increase in price inflation to 5%, ahead of the 4.2% in the previous period, and the highest since the 5.6% seen in May 2011.

“One of the biggest factors influencing the price of groceries is the poor growing conditions seen during the summer of 2012. Vegetables are an important part of the grocery basket, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, and we have seen some sharp price increases.

“With an extra €17m spent on Christmas ‘must-haves’ like sprouts and potatoes, there has been less of the household budget available for ‘treat’ groceries such as soft drinks and confectionery,” Mr Berry added.

German discounter Aldi continues to post exceptional sales growth, up 30% year-on-year and its share has overtaken Lidl for the first time, to become the fourth biggest grocery retailer in the State. Aldi (6%) and Lidl (5.9%) achieved a combined 11.9% in the latest figures, down from 12.6% in the previous quarter and 12.4% in 2011.

However, Kantar said that despite this milestone there is evidence that some shoppers shifted some of their spending back to what it described as “traditional supermarkets” over Christmas.

Musgrave-owned Superquinn performed behind the overall market, but a reduction of the sales decline has resulted in a better Christmas for the retailer compared with 2009, 2010 and 2011, said Kantar.