Sainsbury under pressure in UK supermarkets battle

Sainsbury’s sales fell in the latest 12-week period, industry data showed, as the group continued to underperform Britain’s other big four supermarket chains, including planned merger partner Asda.

By joining forces, Sainsbury and Walmart-owned Asda aim to take on German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl, whose UK sales rose 10% and 5.4%, respectively, in the 12 weeks through February 24, according to the data from market researcher Kantar Worldpanel. That increased Aldi and Lidl’s combined market share in the UK to 12.8%.