Sainsbury's enjoys first growth in sales since March

The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel show that Sainsbury's is the only one of the ‘big four’ retailers to have seen an increase in sales.

The growth of 0.1 per cent represents the retailer's first growth since March, but, growing slightly behind the market, Sainsbury’s year on year share has fallen by 0.1 percentage points to 16.3 per cent.

The Kantar data, for the 12 weeks ending 16 August 2015, shows continued sluggish growth in the British grocery market with an increase in sales of 0.9 per cent compared to one year ago.

Sales at Tesco fell by 0.9 per cent, and the retailer now holds 28.3 per cent of the market - 'Buoyant growth in the convenience stores and online has not been enough to offset lower revenues in the larger shops,' Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said.

Morrisons’ increased decline of 1.1 per cent this month reflects a tougher comparison against last year, when a widespread voucher promotion was in place.

McKevitt added: “Industry growth of around or below 1 per cent has now persisted since summer 2014 and has become the new normal. Despite the accelerating British economy like-for like grocery prices are still falling, with a representative basket of everyday items now 1.7 per cent cheaper than in 2014.

'Thanks to recent efforts to create a more premium image for frozen food, as well as new store openings including its Food Warehouse format, Iceland is attracting more shoppers through the door than last year. Sales are up by 3.4 per cent as a result, though market share remains flat at 2 per cent.

'Waitrose has had another successful period, with its ‘Pick Your Own Offers’ promotion helping to drive growth of 3.7 per cent. For the second month in a row there is also growth at the Co-operative, with sales at the till up by 1.1 per cent compared to last year.'

It’s been another successful period for the discounters, with growth at Aldi accelerating to 18 per cent. Lidl’s sales have also risen, up 12.8 per cent, taking its market share to a new high of 4.1 per cent.

Asda, meanwhile, has retaken its position as Britain’s second largest supermarket, despite a fall in sales of 2.5 per cent and a 0.6 percentage point fall in market share.

McKevitt said: 'The retailer’s greater focus on non-food items means its market share is traditionally higher in the summer, and it’s expected that Sainsbury’s will again become the number two retailer towards Christmas.”