Kantar Worldpanel: Dunnes rivalling Aldi and Lidl for grocery sale growth

Dunnes Stores has rivalled the German discounters for grocery sales growth over the last three months, with its customer vouchering campaign giving it a 6.3% annualised boost at the till.

Latest grocery market share figures for the 12 weeks to June 21 from consumer insights agency Kantar Worldpanel show Dunnes to be the big mover in the period.

Its 6.3% increase in till sales followed a 4.1% year-on-year jump in the preceding 12-week period. Furthermore, the market share of Dunnes has crept up from 21.9% in May to 22.2% last month. The German discounters are the only two competitors seeing such levels of over-the-counter sales growth, with the latest survey showing a 5.3% increase for Aldi and a 6.4% jump for Lidl.

Between them, Aldi and Lidl have a 17.2% share of the Irish grocery market. However, both are seeing a marked slowdown in new shoppers. The ongoing ‘shop and save’ voucher scheme for Dunnes is resulting in customers purchasing a bigger basket of items upon each shop visit.

“The average Dunnes visitor is buying 18 items per trip; compared with a market average of 13 — an increase of three items per basket on this time last year, and an additional €5 through the tills on each shop,” said Cliona Lynch of Kantar Worldpanel.

“As the discounters become more established in the market, year-on-year growth is harder to win. While both Aldi and Lidl are still seeing a strong performance and gains in market share, the landscape is becoming more competitive.

“The impact of Dunnes’ vouchering campaign has given it a strong boost this period.”

Ms Lynch also said Tesco’s plans to turn around performance “could yet help it to regain growth and firmly re-establish its lead”.

Tesco regained its lead share of the market in May, after briefly being overtaken by SuperValu. The latest Kantar data shows it holding that position over the last 12-week period. Tesco has a 25.1% market share, with SuperValu second with 24.7%. However, Tesco is the only major player in the market which is consistently seeing quarterly drops in till sales; 3.3% being the latest.