Convenience stores enjoyed a bumper month as shoppers made millions more top-up trips amid warmer weather, major sporting events and easing grocery inflation, highlighting the channel's strength in meeting immediate, impulse-led demand.
New data from Worldpanel by Numerator released today (July 21) shows shoppers made seven million more visits to convenience stores than a year ago, while grocery price inflation slowed to 2.6 per cent in the four weeks to 12 July – its lowest level since December 2024 – helping drive overall take-home grocery sales growth.
The report states that convenience stores enjoyed a strong month with an increase of seven million trips compared with same four weeks last year, as shoppers popped out for quick local runs.
Branded goods outgrew own label this month for the first time since last August, with sales up 5.5 per cent against 4.0 per cent. Soft drinks, confectionery and ice cream led the shift – categories where summer demand and impulse buying typically favour big names over own label.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel by Numerator, commented: "Easing price rises will come as welcome news to shoppers, but the annual bill tells a fuller story.
"The average household spent £5,530 on groceries over the past twelve months to July, up £156 on the same period last year - a reminder that even as the rate of inflation cools, the cumulative cost of the weekly shop keeps climbing."
Summer of sport drives record number of trips
July brought together major sporting fixtures and another spell of hot weather. With two reasons to keep topping up – whether for match day or another day in the sun – shoppers made 497 million trips over the four weeks, an average of 17 per household, and the highest figure recorded since March 2020.
Trips including beer or cider purchases rose eight per cent year on year. The no/low alcohol category saw a similar surge with trips up 10 per cent, well ahead of growth across the wider alcohol category with 7.2 per cent of the population purchasing a no/low alcohol product during the month.
Households continued to make the most of the sunshine with spending on burgers up 25 per cent, frozen lollies up 17 per cent, and bottled water up 23 per cent. Wimbledon fortnight also added its own seasonal boost, with £77m spent on strawberries and £21m on cream, proof that some traditions never go out of fashion.
"Sport and sunshine combined to shape shopping habits this month, and England's run in the tournament had a clear impact on the drinks aisle," said McKevitt.
"With shoppers stocking up on matchday, and the day prior to the first three knockout matches, spending on beer rose 21 per cent compared with the same days last year. That enthusiasm wasn't shared in Scotland and Wales, however, where the comparable rise was just two per cent.”
Lidl leads in market share gains and Morrisons returns to growth
Over the 12 weeks to 12 July 2026 Lidl market share moved up by 0.5 percentage points, the largest gain for any grocer as sales at the discounter rose by 8.6 per cent. Sales at online only specialist Ocado were up by 14.1 per cent moving market share to 2.2 per cent, up from two per cent in the same time period last year.
Morrisons returned to share growth, claiming 8.5 per cent of the market with an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to 2025 as sales rose by 3.5 per cent. Bouncing back from last year’s cyber issues, spending through the tills at Co-op increased by 5.6 per cent, the fastest rate of growth since February 2021. As a result, Co-op share rose by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4 per cent.
Sainsbury’s also gained market share, moving from 15.1 per cent last year to 15.2 per cent in the last 12 weeks with sales growing by 2.8 per cent. Sales at Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket, were up by 1.7 per cent with a market share of 27.9 per cent. While sales at Asda were down 1.1 per cent on last year, this was a notable improvement on the -3.6 per cent reported last month. Asda market share over the 12 weeks now stands at 11.5 per cent. The fourth-largest grocer Aldi holds 10.8 per cent share with sales growing by 0.7 per cent.
Both Iceland and Waitrose kept market share flat compared to last year at 2.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively. The former grew sales by 2.3 per cent, while Waitrose saw an uptick of 2.5 per cent. Beyond the grocers, grocery-only sales at M&S increased by 16 per cent over the 12 weeks, the fastest rate since May 2023.