Consumers yet to return to pre-covid shopping habits 

Kantar data shows consumers are making fewer shopping trips than they did prior to the pandemic

Grocery prices also rose by 3.7% in February - compared to the same period last year. 

Irish consumers have yet to return to their pre-pandemic shopping habits nearly five years later with the number of trips to supermarkets dropping while prices rise, new data from market research firm Kantar shows.

This follows a surge in grocery prices over the last few years with annual grocery price inflation still running at 3.7% in the 12 weeks leading up to February 23. This is 0.3% higher than the rate recorded in January.

Emer Healy, business development director at Kantar, said their data shows that consumers are making fewer shopping trips than they did prior to the pandemic - down by two a week compared to February 2020.

The trend for online shopping appears to have stuck as well, with the online channel taking a record 6.9% market share in February compared to 2.7% in the same period in 2020.

Online sales rose by 14.6% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €27.8m through this channel.

“Right now it's hard to separate the cost-of-living crisis from post-covid trends, with value-seeking a key consumer focus. Despite expectations, shoppers aren't visiting more stores for deals, averaging only four stores over the past 12 weeks,” Ms Healy said.

According to Kantar, the value of grocery sales increased by 4.9% in Ireland in the four weeks to February 23, compared to the same period last year.

Spending on promotion during February rose by 11.6% compared to last year with €92m more spent with promotions now accounting for 23.9% of all sales going through the tills.

Dunnes Stores retains the largest share of consumer grocery spending during February at 24.6% with Tesco holding 23.9%. SuperValu’s stood at 20.4% while Lidl and Aldi’s market share stood at 12.8% and 10.9%, respectively.