Trading figures due in battle for market share
THE winners and losers in the battle for market share in the supermarket sector will become clearer this week when heavyweights Tesco and Sainsbury’s post figures.
The retailers will reveal whether recent pricing strategies have been successful in luring in shoppers when the pair issue trading updates tomorrow and Wednesday respectively.
Morrisons was the first of the Big Four to report first quarter figures and set the pace for what is likely to have been a highly competitive period for the sector.
Its sales rose 7.3%, excluding fuel and VAT, and it said it was attracting more than half a million more new customers each week after making 8000 price cuts.
Figures from Nielsen also recently revealed that supermarkets have been offering record levels of discounting, with 34% of all sales of goods on offer in the four weeks to May – higher than the 28% normally expected for the month.
Tesco has been losing market share to rivals such as Morrisons and the discounters as consumers switch to find the best deal.
The most recent TNS Worldpanel market share data showed Morrisons enjoying the greatest level of annual growth at 7.9%, followed by Sainsbury’s at 7.8% and Asda at 7.2%. All three grew their market share in the 12 weeks to May 17, while industry giant Tesco continued to lose ground, with its share down to 30.8%, from 31.1% in the same period last year.
Sainsbury’s has also added to the pressure on the market leader, having trumped Tesco with full-year like-for-like sales growth of 4.5%.
Official figures due on Tuesday should show the Bank of England’s inflation benchmark falling below its 2% target for the first time in almost two years.
