The UK supermarket sector has witnessed 12-weeks of “strong” growth, with sales up 5.8%, the latest TNS Worldpanel figures revealed today (27 May).
While sector growth for the 12 weeks to 17 May was down on April’s 6.2% growth, TNS Worldpanel director Peter East said that the UK grocery market remained “robust” and attributed the drop to lower grocery price inflation.
Grocery price inflation for the month stood at 8.1%, TNS revealed.
Of the ‘big four’ retailers, Morrisons posted the largest gains of 7.9%, bringing the retailer’s market share to 11.6%.
Sainsbury’s and Asda were hot on the heels of Morrison, with sales up 7.8% and 7.2% respectively.
However, Tesco – the UK’s largest retailer – lagged the market, with sales up 4.7%. Tesco has seen its market share recede over the past year and the group currently accounts for 30.8% of the total market, down from 31.1% in the comparable period of last year.
