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UK grocery sales picked up over the Easter as consumers remained undeterred by inflationary pressures and battles between retailers were fuelled by promotional activities, numbers from Kantar showed on Tuesday. Total grocery sales edged up 4.0% to £35.31 billion in the twelve weeks to April 20, from £33.97 billion the previous year. Take-home sales benefitted from a later Easter this year as they picked up by 6.5% over the period, serving to boost retailers’ performance across the board. Grocery price inflation increased to 3.8% for the four-week period ending April 20, but this didn’t hamper consumer spending habits over the Easter period, with spending up 11% on the prior year. For the four weeks ended March 23, Kantar had reported grocery price inflation of 3.5%. Despite chocolate confectionery prices increasing by 17%, Briton’s remained undeterred, according to Kantar, as Easter egg volume surpassed the prior year. Promotional activities played a significant role in trading as spending on them reached its highest level this year at 29.7%. ‘The grocers have been sharpening their pricing strategies to stay competitive in the fight for footfall. They’ve invested in price cuts which were the main driver of promotional growth. Often linked to loyalty cards, spending on these deals grew by £347 million,’ said Kantar Head of Retail & Consumer Insight Fraser McKevitt. ‘At Tesco and Sainsbury’s, nearly 20% of items sold are on a price match, and they end up in almost two thirds of baskets,’ continued McKevitt. Britain’s largest grocer, Tesco PLC, increased its sales by 6.0% to £9.81 billion in the 12 weeks to April 20 from £9.26 billion the prior year. The firm’s market share edged upwards to 27.8% from 27.3%. Increased spending at the tills of J Sainsbury PLC helped improve its market share to 15.3% from 15.2%, as sales rose 4.4% to £5.39 billion from £5.16 billion. Ocado Group PLC took the spot for fastest growing retailer - a position it has maintained for almost a year - as it sales advanced 12% to £687 million from £615 million. The firm now owns 1.9% of the market, up from 1.8%. Meanwhile, Asda’s market share fell to 12.3% from 13.3%, as sales fell 3.8% to £4.35 billion from £4.52 billion. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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