Grocery market heading back to normality, data shows

The latest take-home grocery figures from Kantar show that while the number of grocery trips remains lower than in pre-Covid times, since last year there has been a 13.1% increase in the number of shopping visits made each month by British households.

In addition, the research reveals that as visits to stores rise, there has been a corresponding fall in the average spend per trip, down 13.6%, metrics which suggest a return to more typical patterns.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight, said: “While it’s encouraging to see shoppers returning to the habits of old, there is still a way to go before the market entirely returns to normal. That’s demonstrated by the fact that sales in the past 12 weeks were still £3.3bn higher than in 2019 before the pandemic hit. Retailers will also be benefiting from sales of goods consumed on-the-go, such as picnics and lunches eaten at work, which are not captured in these numbers.”

However, supermarket footfall in the latest four weeks was down by five million trips compared with May. McKevitt added: “Often seen as the crowning glory of British summertime, a hot late May Bank Holiday this year had shoppers celebrating. The first real spell of good weather in 2021 saw £33m spent on sun creams in the past four weeks, more than double the previous month. Despite pubs and restaurants being open, take-home sales of alcohol increased by £29m compared to May in part thanks to events including the bank holiday, with another peak coming in the lead up to the much-anticipated European football championships in June.”

Meanwhile, online sales accounted for the same proportion of the market in the four weeks to 13 June as they did in May. McKevitt said: “A really interesting recent development in online shopping is the rapid growth of fast-track delivery services for smaller top-up shops. Tesco launched its Whoosh platform in May to compete against start-up disruptors including Gorillas, Getir and Weezy which are moving into the market for smaller trips, with baskets under £25 currently worth £41bn online and in-store each year. It’s definitely a case of watch this space.”

The research shows that recent concerns about inflation in the wider economy have yet to materialise in the grocery market, where prices paid fell by 1.9% year on year, partly because of an increase in the number of promotions currently on offer. In the latest four weeks, 29.6% of all grocery spending was done on some kind of deal, up from 26.4% this time last year.