Indies, Co-op see steep fall in sales as normality returns to grocery market

Independent and symbol convenience stores have seen the steepest fall in sales, followed by Co-op, during the 12 weeks to 13 June, as the latest Kantar data has revealed a return to more typical patterns in grocery shopping.

The market share of the symbols and independents has fallen by 28 per cent year on year, with shoppers starting to use them more on the go but rely on them less for take-home groceries. Co-op’s market share fell back from 7.4 per cent to 6.3 per cent this period, a decline of 15.8 per cent.

When compared with the same period in 2019, the symbols and independents, however, have the second largest sales growth at 21.8 per cent, only behind Ocado (50 per cent), confirming that the sector has been able to retain a share of the increased custom it has received post-Covid.

The overall grocery sales fell by 1.6 per cent during the 12 weeks. Kantar data shows that there has been a 13.1 per cent increase in the number of shopping visits made each month by British households since last year, which is accompanied by a corresponding fall in the average spend per trip, down 13.6 per cent.

“While it’s encouraging to see shoppers returning to the habits of old, there is still a way to go before the market entirely returns to normal,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight, said.

“That’s demonstrated by the fact that sales in the past 12 weeks were still £3.3 billion higher than in 2019 before the pandemic hit. Retailers will also be benefiting from sales of goods consumed on-the-go, such as picnics and lunches eaten at work, which are not captured in these numbers.”

Supermarket footfall in the latest four weeks was down by five million trips compared with May as the re-opening of indoor hospitality took some spend away.

Online sales accounted for the same proportion of the market (13.4%) in the four weeks to 13 June as they did in May. Along with the fact that year-on-year sales were up by just 0.2 per cent, the data suggests that the appetite for large online shops is approaching a new baseline.

McKevitt added that the rapid growth of fast-track delivery services is emerging as an area to watch for. “Tesco launched its Whoosh platform in May to compete against start-up disruptors including Gorillas, Getir and Weezy which are moving into the market for smaller trips, with baskets under £25 currently worth £41 billion online and in-store each year. It’s definitely a case of ‘watch this space’.”