Take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 4.7% in the four weeks to 12 May 2024, according to the latest data from Kantar. May saw more shoppers out and about and picking up items to enjoy in the long-awaited sunshine. Volumes per trip were up slightly at 0.2% while frequency was also up by 1%, with shoppers making 21 trips on average over the month of May. Average prices grew by 1.8% in May, up on last month’s 0.7%.
Grocery inflation stands at 2.6% in the 12 weeks to 12 May 2024, down 13.3% compared to the same period last year. Although value sales are up significantly, grocery price inflation remains the driving factor behind rather than increased purchasing.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, explains: “Once again we see grocery inflation fall for the thirteenth month in a row – now sitting at the lowest level we have seen since March 2022. This is welcome news, but Irish consumers are still looking for bargains with over 25% of value sales on promotion, down 4% since January 2024. Retailers are also promoting their own label ranges to get shoppers through the door. Sales of own label are performing well and growing ahead of the total market at 5.7% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €86m year-on-year.”
Premium own label performed particularly strongly with shoppers spending an additional €18.4m year-on-year, up 12.6% compared to this time last year. Brands also grew by 4% over the latest 12 weeks with shoppers spending an additional €59m, but growth was slightly behind the total market.
Here comes the sun
Emer Healy, adds: “We saw the first signs of summer just in time for the Early May Bank Holiday. Irish consumers celebrated by dusting off their barbeques at the first opportunity. This month, shoppers spent an additional €614k on sausages, €497k on chilled burgers and grills, €454k on chilled prepared salads and €3.4 million on soft drinks, to make the most of the sun. Sales of beer and wine were also up 4.1%, with shoppers spending an additional €2.7 million compared to last month”.
Online sales were up 18.6% year-on-year with shoppers spending an additional €31.3 million on the platform. Larger trips contributed an additional €12.5 million, together with new shoppers and more frequent trips, which contributed a combined €9.8 million to the platform’s growth.
Irish retailer performance update
Dunnes holds 23.7% market share with growth of 7% year-on-year. Dunnes’ growth stems mainly from more frequent trips, up 4%, contributing €29.7 million to their overall performance.
Tesco holds 23% of the market, up 7.1% year-on-year. Tesco has the strongest trip frequency growth amongst all retailers for another month in a row, up 8.7% year-on-year, contributing an additional €61.2 million to their overall performance.
SuperValu holds 20.4% of the market with growth of 3.7%. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in-store compared to all retailers, an average of 21.6 trips, and the retailer also experienced the strongest growth in volume per trip, up 8.9%. This contributed an additional €56.2 million to their overall performance.
Lidl holds 13.8% share and growth of 6.1% year-on-year. More frequent trips contributed an additional €42.2 million to their overall performance. Aldi holds 11.6% market share. New shopper recruits alongside more frequent trips contributed an additional €15.4 million to their overall performance.
