Market shares fall for Sainsbury’s and Asda

Sainsbury’s and Asda, which are planning to merge, have both seen their market shares fall this year, figures from Kantar Worldpanel reveal.

In the 12 weeks to 12th April, Sainsbury’s share was 15.9 per cent – down from 16.2 per cent a year ago. Asda saw its share fall from 15.6 per cent to 15.5 per cent.

“The two supermarkets appeal to different customer bases,” said Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight. Asda achieves nearly two-thirds of its sales outside London and the south east of England in contrast to Sainsbury’s, which registers 59 per cent of its sales in those two areas. Sainsbury’s also appeals to more affluent shoppers (ABC1): this demographic accounted for 62 per cent of all sales at Sainsbury’s in comparison to 46 per cent of sales at Asda. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s premium own-label line ‘Taste the Difference’ clocked up sales of £832 million annually – nearly two and a half times the size of Asda’s ‘Extra Special’ range.”

Outselling Sainsbury’s in branded goods, Asda also attracts a greater number of households through its doors. Fraser McKevitt continues: “15.8 million households bought their groceries at Asda over the past 12 weeks –500,000 more households than shopped at Sainsbury’s – but we are seeing a substantial number of customers frequenting both retailers. Nearly nine million households visited both Sainsbury’s and Asda, with consumers showing little retailer loyalty.”

The UK grocery market grew by two per cent in the 12 weeks to 18th April, its slowest rate since March last year as a result of lower grocery price rises, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Tesco and Morrisons both outpaced the market, but the strongest growth came from Lidl (up 12.7 per cent) and Aldi (up 7.7 per cent).

Grocery market shares: 12 weeks to 22-04-18

Total till roll – consumer spend

£m                   Share ( per cent)                      Change ( per cent)

Tesco               7,406               27.6                 2.1

Sainsbury’s      4,258               15.9                 0.2

Asda                4,161               15.5                 1.4

Morrisons       2,810               10.5                 2.2

Aldi                 1,949               7.3                   7.7

Co-op              1,605               6.0                   -0.4

Waitrose          1,366               5.1                   0.2

Lidl                  1,437               5.4                   9.1

Iceland             562                  2.1                   0.2

Ocado              332                  1.2                   12.7

Total Grocers  26,830             100.0               2.0

Source: Kantar Worldpanel