Subscriber login Close [x]
remember me
You are not logged in.

Tesco's woes continue with further drop in sales as Waitrose hits record market share

Published:  22 October, 2014

Tesco continues to lose market share to its grocery rivals at both ends of the retail spectrum, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel which reveals that Waitrose achieved its record performance for the last 12 weeks of trading.

Waitrose's has achieved its best ever market shareWaitrose’s has achieved its best ever market shareWaitrose on the up as Tesco falls back further and Aldi and Lidl rise once again

Tesco continues to lose market share to its grocery rivals at both ends of the retail spectrum, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel which reveals that Waitrose achieved its record performance for the last 12 weeks of trading.

Kantar's figures for the 12 weeks to October 12 show that Waitrose secured a record grocery market share of 5.2% with an increase of sales of 6.8% against the same period last year, and has growed continuously for ever month since March 2009.

The hard discounters continue their climb up the grocery retail ladder. Although Aldi's growth has slowed compared to its sector leading performance earlier in the year, sales are still up 27% on last year and it now has a market share of 4.8%.  Lidl's sales grew by 18%, and now has a 3.5% market share.

Kantar's figures are further evidence that the grocery retail sector is continuing to polarise with the premium and discount areas of the market in impressive growth, whilst the big mainstream players in the middle are struggling by comparison.

Tesco's problems continue to mount up. Ahead of tomorrow's announcement of its interim figures and latest news of the financial enquiry in to the £250 million blackhole in its profits which has seen Dan Jago, head of its beers, wines and spirits divison, being suspended from duties, its last 12-week performance is also down.

Its market share now sits at 28.8% compared to 30.% this time last year.

But Kantar's figures show that its 3.6% drop in sales for the last quarter are its best performance since June.

Asda is the best performing of the Big Four retailers with sales ahead of the market and up 1% on last year, taking its market share to 17.3%. Both Sainsbury's and Morrison's sales slipped back, down 3.1% and 1.8% respectively, taking their market shares to 16.1% and 11%.

Overall the Kantar figures show that like-for-like prices across the grocery sector have declined by 0.2%, pushing the market into deflation. Which is ultimately good news for consumers as widescale price cutting continues across all the major retailers.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel said: "While the supermarkets are battling it out on price, the real winners are consumers.  Extensive price cutting by some supermarkets in a bid to win the price war means that customers are saving on everyday items such as vegetables and milk.

"While price is a key battle ground among the big four, at the top end of the market Waitrose secured a record grocery market share of 5.2%.  Impressively, it has boosted its sales by 6.8% over the past year, continuously growing its sales every month since March 2009."

Keywords: