Solid BWS and pre-mixed performance boost grocery sales

By Lisa Riley

Published: 17 September, 2019

Sales at UK supermarkets were up 2.2% in the last four weeks compared to the same period last year boosted not only by the August Bank Holiday heatwave but also by a solid BWS and pre-mixed alcoholic drinks performance, according to Nielsen.

The total uplift in sales translates to an increased shopper spend of £193m across the four weeks to 7 September 2019, with nearly half of this spend at discounters and high street value retailers.

BWS sales increased 3.3% while soft drinks sales were boosted by 5.1%, with shoppers also spending £5.7m more on pre-mixed alcoholic drinks - an increase of 32%.

Despite strong sales for these categories and overall growth, there were mixed fortunes for retailers over the last 12 weeks, as all of the top four retailers - Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco - saw a drop in market share.

Brighter news was seen at M&S where there was growth in food sales over the 12 weeks, and discounters maintained a 16% market share.

“Momentum has been hard to sustain over the summer as seen in the 12 week trends, but in the latest four weeks there has been strong performance from The Co-op as well as Sainsbury’s which has attracted over 370 thousand new shoppers and is currently the fastest growing top four supermarket. We are also seeing sales improve at M&S with new marketing campaigns designed to attract more frequent visits to their food halls and standalone food stores,” said Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight.

Looking ahead, Watkins said he anticipated a slow start to the September to December trading period, not expecting sales to accelerate until the end of November.

“For the major supermarkets, there are three challenges ahead: to grow spend per visit faster than the discounters; to encourage shoppers to visit more often for their various shopping occasions, and to roll out inspiring advertising campaigns that will help to build loyalty through to the end of the year, including the crucial month of December,” he said.

In addition, retailers would also need to make sure that their messages resonate with the increasingly price conscious and Brexit-conscious shoppers, he added.

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