Ice cream, sun care pushed total grocery sales in heatwave: NielsenIQ

Total Till grocery sales surged +4.4 percent in the last four weeks ending July 16, states a new report as the summer heatwave encouraged shoppers to spend more on mineral water, ice cream and sandwiches while inflation pulled down spend per visit.

According to new data released on Monday (26) by NielsenIQ, total Till grocery sales surged +4.4 percent in the last four weeks ending 16th July, rising to +5.6 percent during the final week ending 16th July.

Sales at the Grocery-Multiples increased +2.7 percent, which is the highest growth since April 2021, when the country exited the first pandemic lockdown.

With the summer heatwave encouraging shoppers to socialise and eat picnics outdoors, sales for fresh food and beverages increased, with highlights such as sandwiches (+24 percent), mineral water (+28 percent) and ice cream (+24 percent). Prepared salads (+18 percent) and prepared fruit (+14 percent) also benefited from the weather shifting consumer lifestyles.

In terms of non-food products, sales increased for luggage (38 percent) and sun care (125 percent), with sales reaching £50m in the four week period. NielsenIQ data also shows a continued sales recovery in health and beauty products (+13 percent) as well as a rise in petfood and petcare products (+11.9 percent).

As a result of the warmer weather and opportunities to socialise, NielsenIQ data shows that in the last four week period, visits to stores rose 10 percent compared with the same period last year. This is an uplift from the 7 percent increase recorded in June. In contrast, the slowdown in online sales continued with sales falling 10.5 percent compared with last year, but online share of sales has remained broadly stable at 11.5 percent.

Asa result of rising prices, volume sales fell 4.1 percent in the four week period, with significant volume declines in packaged grocery (-6.4 percent), household items (-8.1 percent) and meat, fish and poultry (-9.4 percent) as households managed their weekly grocery shopping budget owing to high single digit food inflation.

Spend per visit (across all channels) was down 5 percent as shoppers continued to make trade-offs when shopping, such as opting to buy smaller packs, delaying spend or changing the products they buy.

“The worrying pressure on sales volumes is expected to continue throughout the summer period and exacerbated due to the holidays, with more Brits travelling abroad than last year. This means that the key battleground for retailers will be on who can attract the most shoppers with inspiring media campaigns to build on the ongoing shopping trend to shop little and more often,” reports quoted Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK Head of Retailer and Business Insight, as saying.

According to a recent NielsenIQ Consumer Outlook study, 49 percent of UK consumers said they are feeling less secure about meeting day to day expenses within the next 6 months. Moreover, a staggering 90 percent are increasingly watching what they are spending, with 62 percent saying that food and grocery costs are one of the highest causes of financial concern, second only to the cost of utility bills.