Tesco has grown ahead of the market in Ireland, boosting its market share, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel.

Figures published today (10 December) show Tesco grew its market share by 0.2 points to 27.9% for the 12 weeks ended 25 November thanks in part to its “wide shopper base”, Kantar said. Around 83% of Irish households shopped in Tesco over the past 12 weeks, Kantar noted, an improvement of 3% on last year.

The figures showed the grocery market has grown by 0.4% – the second month of sales growth in a row and the highest rate since January this year. Kantar noted this was a “positive” sign for the industry but said real growth remains “elusive” with inflation currently at 4.2%.

“There is no doubt that household budgets are increasingly stretched and this is reflected in the changing nature of the grocery shop,” said David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel. “To help offset the impact of price inflation the little and often approach to shopping continues; with the average household making an extra 2.5 grocery trips this year – that’s an additional four million trips across the country.”

Aldi’s sales growth, however, remained above 30% for the second successive month as a result of “attracting more shoppers to the store” and “encouraging them to shop more often and increase the amount they spend”, Kantar said.

Fortunes at Dunnes have also begun to improve this month, despite sales growth at the retailer still “trailing behind” the market, Kantar said.

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“[Dunnes] has strengthened its position since September when sales declined by almost 8%,” Berry said. “Dunnes now has a 23.2% market share and is in a better position to compete as the crucial Christmas trading period approaches.”

Two retailers, however, that lost market share in the period were Supervalu with a 0.2% decline to 19.4% of the market and Superquinn with a 3.1% drop to a 5.3% share of the market.

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