Grocers see demand rise from footie
SALES in the grocery sector received a boost as British shoppers stocked up for the World Cup.
In the 12 weeks to 10 July sales grew 3.2 per cent compared with same period last year.
Two of the weeks saw sales lifts of more than four per cent. Beers, wines and spirits saw the biggest growth as football fans stocked up. Crisp and snack sales also surged by around ten per cent.
Tesco, the official England team supermarket, increased its market share compared with the same period in 2009, rising from 27.9 to 28.4 per cent in the four weeks to 10 July 2010.
Mike Watkins, senior manager at Nielsen, who conducted the research, said: “Shoppers clearly stocked up immediately ahead of the football matches and there were some impressive weekly growth in some categories.
“However these were short term as the way shoppers responded to football related promotions was by being more promiscuous and by bringing forward expenditure.”
Watkins added that the summer weather also helped to fuel sales in supermarkets.