Aldi and Lidl add 162,000 extra shoppers

SuperValu is the only Irish retailer standing up to the onslaught of the German discount retailers in maintaining its market share.

Consumers are continuing to be drawn to discount stores over the traditional Irish-owned supermarket, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland.

The latest results for the 12 weeks ending May 12 show that an extra 162,000 people were drawn to the discount prices on offer in Aldi and Lidl.

Commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel David Berry said that fear of additional taxes in the guise of the local property tax was driving shoppers to the discounters.

“Aldi and Lidl have posted a combined record share of 13.6%, an increase of two percentage points from 11.6% last year,” he said.

“Both retailers continue to secure strong sales growth and win new customers.”

“In the latest 12 weeks Aldi has recruited an additional 100,000 shoppers and Lidl has added 62,000. In the face of continued price inflation and the onset of the local property tax, shoppers continue to rein in their spending and look for the best value.

“Shopping across a range of different retailers is a big trend among consumers, who are making smaller, more frequent trips,” he said.

As consumers look to save money and the discounters grow, Tesco and Dunnes Stores have seen their sales decline, with market share falling from 28.4% to 27.6% for Tesco and 22.4% to 22.1% for Dunnes.

SuperValu has again performed ahead of the market, holding onto its 19.8% market share, while the recent improved performance of Superquinn continues with share maintained at 5.5%.

Martin Kelleher, managing director of SuperValu, said that the key to maintaining market share was offering quality at a reasonable price.

“As the best performing grocery retailer outside the discounters, we are pleased with the latest figures from Kantar which is evidence of the work we are doing with our retailers. We have achieved this by listening to our consumers and offering them quality Irish produce at great value,” he said.

A growing phenomenon captured in the figures was the rise of online grocery shopping which has grown by nearly 8% since last year.

Online grocery sales have increased by 7.9% in the past year, compared with an annual in-store growth of just 0.2%.

With consumers spending an average of €62 per shop on the internet compared with €22 in-store, “online presents a key opportunity for the traditional retailers,” said Mr Berry.