Aldi hitting the mainstream as customers seek value January 8, 2013 THIS time last year poor results at Tesco shocked investors and the grocery sector, although followers of YouGov’s BrandIndex and this column would have been aware of their problems a month earlier. With the all-important Christmas season now behind us I’ve taken a look back at 2012 to see what the big customer perception stories [...]
Flailing high street has worse to come in the year ahead January 6, 2013 AFTER holding their breath for the last few weeks, some retailers can at last allow themselves a cautious sigh of relief. Positive sales numbers from the likes of John Lewis and Next have given the sector a much-needed dose of optimism, resulting in a slight hike in share prices for some of the larger players. [...]
Sun European takes a shine to packaging January 2, 2013 SUN EUROPEAN Partners has snapped up two packaging companies including Lincolnshire-based Paragon Print & Packaging in a £400m spending spree. Sun European, an arm of US private equity firm Sun Capital, yesterday said it had bought a 49 per cent stake in Paragon from Equistone and LDC for an undisclosed sum. Sun European also completed [...]
Sainsbury’s has top quarter for market share December 4, 2012 SAINSBURY’S has picked up market share in the last quarter, to make it the biggest winner among the overall grocery market, data revealed yesterday. According to figures from market researcher Kantar Worldpanel the supermarket’s sales rose 4.7 per cent and its share rose 0.2 points to 16.9 per cent in the 12 weeks to 25 [...]
Sainsburys ups market share as Morrisons lags November 6, 2012 J SAINSBURY, Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group, has lifted its market share, helped by investment in its cheaper own-brand products, industry data showed yesterday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Sainsbury’s sales rose 6.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 28 October, increasing its share of the UK grocery market to 16.8 per cent from 16.4 [...]
Big supermarkets fight to master a changing market October 3, 2012 TESCO’S first fall in profits for almost two decades suggests a watershed moment for the supermarkets. On one side, the race for space against a backdrop of generous margins; on the other, an altogether tougher battle for bargain-conscious, internet-savvy and convenience-oriented customers as margins shrink. Yesterday’s results were a worrying suggestion that Tesco is losing [...]
Kantar reports healthy growth in grocery sales September 11, 2012 GROCERS have continued to expand through 2012, Kantar Worldpanel revealed yesterday, with growth at the very top and bottom driving pace in the market. Total sales by grocers were £23.5bn in the 12 weeks to 2 September, up from £22.7bn in the same period last year, growth of 3.3 per cent. All of the big [...]
Supermarkets enjoy a rare lift during summer September 3, 2012 THE RETURN of the warmer summer weather together with the Olympics and the use of vouchers helped grocers enjoy their best trading performance of the year last month, in a rare bright spot amid the gloom across the rest of the retail industry. According to the latest figures from Nielsen, grocery sales in the four [...]
Discount chains lead sales jump August 14, 2012 GROCERS enjoyed a sunny summer with sales growth almost across the board, but led by discount supermarkets, said analyst Kantar Worldpanel yesterday. Grocery sales at the UK’s main stores grew 3.9 per cent as a whole in the 12 weeks to 5 August, compared to a year earlier, reaching nearly £24bn in total. Though discounters [...]
Budget grocers up market slice July 17, 2012 BUDGET supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl have raised their market share again, new figures showed yesterday. The latest Kantar Worldpanel survey revealed that Lidl and Aldi have 2.9 per cent each of the UK market, a record for the budget chains, which have been catching their rivals as austerity bites. Among the big four grocers, [...]