Aldi is now 6th largest supermarket

UK: The first quarter of 2015 has seen Aldi overtake Waitrose to become the UK’s sixth largest supermarket.

According to the latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 29 March 2015, now has a 5.3% market share after four years of double-digit sales growth.

“Growth has been fuelled by over half a million new shoppers choosing to visit Aldi this year and average basket sizes increasing by 7%,” revealed Kantar Worldpanel’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt. “The German discounter’s sales have increased by 16.8% in the latest period, still high compared to other retailers but slower relative to its recent performance,” he added.

In fact, Lidl and Waitrose were the only other retailers to grow sales ahead of the market and increase their market share in the latest period. Waitrose increased its sales by 2.9% compared with this time last year and now accounts for 5.1% of the grocery market. Waitrose has grown its sales in an unbroken run stretching back to March 2009. Lidl’s 12.1% sales growth moved it up to a 3.7% share of the market.

The report also reveals that Sainsbury’s is back in growth this period for the first time since August 2014. It has brought in more shoppers, grown sales by 0.2%, and as a result has slowed the rate at which it is losing market share – down just 0.1% to 16.4%. Tesco also grew sales, up 0.3%, while Asda and Morrisons declined by 1.1% and 0.7% respectively.

Fraser McKevitt continues: “The changing structure of Britain’s supermarket landscape is illustrated by two facts. Firstly, the so called discounters Aldi and Lidl now command a combined 9% share of the market. In 2012 the same two retailers only accounted for 5.4% of grocery sales. Secondly, the 72.8% share taken by the biggest four retailers is now at the lowest level in a decade.”