Warm weather and Team GB’s success at the Olympics and Paralympics boosted supermarket sales over the past three months, as Britons in celebratory mood splashed out on alcohol.
Supermarket sales rose 0.3% over the 12 weeks to 11 September, with a particular lift from alcohol sales over the final month of the period, up 8.5% according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Prosecco and Champagne were the most popular tipples, boosting sales of sparkling wine by 36% over the shorter four-week period.
But Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at the market analysis firm, said strong drinks sales masked a weaker picture overall.
“While overall sales growth has been slow, consumers have been keen to celebrate Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic golden summer ... as promotional events across a number of retailers successfully tapped into the nation’s celebratory mood.”
A breakdown of figures for the major supermarkets showed that Aldi and Lidl continued to outperform their peers. Sales rose 11.6% and 9.5% respectively at the two discount chains over the three months, compared with the same period a year earlier.
“Aldi and Lidl continue to grow – not only are both continuing to expand their store estates but existing customers are visiting more frequently and upping their basket size,” McKevitt said.
“The discounters are helping drive the industry-wide growth in premium own-label lines, with marketing campaigns moving away from showcasing only price to a focus on quality.”
Tesco sales fell 0.2%, but it was the retailer’s best 12-week performance in two years, again boosted by alcohol sales. Its share of the market edged down 0.1 percentage points to 28.1%, but it remained considerably ahead of its next biggest rival, Sainsbury’s, which had a 15.9% share.
Tesco was the best performer among the “big four” supermarkets, which includes Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons.
At Waitrose, a 3.4% increase in sales over the three months boosted its share of the grocery market to a record high of 5.3%, following a promotional push.
McKevitt said: “It’s half-price event boosted performance across much of the store – particularly in household and alcohol. However, the increase in sales has come at a cost, with Waitrose’s proportion of promotional sales reaching a higher level than some of the traditionally more promotion-focused big four retailers.”
Weekly sales figures published separately by Waitrose’s parent group, John Lewis Partnership, showed sales at the supermarket were 3.7% higher in the week ending 17 September, compared with a year earlier, hitting £125m.
The increase was driven by the unusually warm September weather, which caused sales of ice-cream and barbecue food to spike.
Ben Stimson, the retail director at Waitrose, said: “The weather during a week in which the UK’s warmest September day since 1911 was recorded helped drive a good performance last week before the sunshine turned to downpours.
“Ice-cream sales were up almost 43%, barbecue sales were up by 100% and service counter meat sales up by 32%.”
Salads and sushi were also popular last week.
Sales at John Lewis over the week grew by 0.9% to £79m. Sales of electricals and home technology increased by 9.9% compared with a year earlier, boosted by the release of the iPhone 7 and wireless headphones.
Clothing was a weak spot for the department store chain, with fashion down 8% over the week. John Lewis blamed the fall on the September heatwave.
