Sales of groceries in the UK have dropped for the first time since 1994.
The amount spent by consumers there in major grocery retailers fell by 0.2%, and while not a vast amount, it is the first decline since data began to be collected 20 years ago by specialist Kantar Worldpanel.
Fraser McKevitt at Kantar, said that the price war among the big retailers means “an average basket of everyday goods such as milk, bread and vegetables now costs 0.4% less than it did this time last year.”
Tesco sales fell by 3.7% in the 12-week period, while Morrisons dropped 3.3% and Sainsbury’s 2.5%. Asda was the best performer of the “Big Four” with sales down 0.2%.
In contrast, Aldi sales grew 25.5% and Lidl 16.8% Waitrose sales increased 5.6%.
Aldi gained the biggest growth in market share, taking it up to just under 5%.
Despite the decline, Tesco remains the biggest grocery retailer, but its market share dropped down to 28.7%.
Shopping habits are changing with people reducing weekly shops in favour of spreading out the frequency of their purchases among a variety of retailers. The lower spend may indicate this pattern may be saving customers money.
