Dunnes Stores catches Tesco after strong sales rise
SuperValu still leads as overall market grows by 3.7 per cent
The latest supermarket figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland show a strong performance from Dunnes Stores in the 12 weeks to September 11.
The value of sales at Dunnes jumped by 6.3 per cent compared with the same period last year, pulling it level with Tesco in terms of overall market share and continuing a strong performance in recent Kantar surveys. Earlier this year,The Sunday Business Post reported that Dunnes was changing its strategy to deal with the challenge fromGerman discount retailers Aldi and Lidl.
SuperValu still leads the way with 22.4 per cent of the market, followed by Tesco and Dunnes on 21.6 per cent. Lidl is on 11.7 per cent, Aldi on 11.4 per cent and others have an 11.3 per cent share.
Overall, grocery sales were 3.7 per cent higher in value compared with the same period last year.
David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said larger trips had boosted sales for Dunnes, with the average spend increasing by €2.50 to €37.20 in the latest quarter, compared with the same time last year. "Dunnes has successfully tempted shoppers to add more expensive items to their baskets, with the average price per item rising to €2.05 – an increase of 12 per cent on last year,” he said.
Tesco was the only one of the big five chains to record a drop in the value of sales – down 2.3 per cent – though Kantar says sales volumes rose by 1.9 per cent from a year earlier. Kantar said the gap between value and volume sales was a reflection of a lower average price point at Tesco, in part the result of its ‘Staying Down Prices’ campaign.
Lidl sales were up 4.5 per cent over the past year, with three categories – produce, meat and bakery – accounting for €11m of extra sales.
"Lidl has also managed to increase the number of repeat visits its shoppers make, with the average customer returning 11 times over the past 12 weeks compared with fewer than 10 times last year, ” said Berry.
Aldi sales increased by 5.4 per cent in the period. Separately, Aldi's British arm, which includes its Irish stores, reported a slight fall in profit last year, with operating profit down 1.8 per cent to £255.6m. Sales, however, increased by 12 per cent to a record £7.7 billion as it opened new outlets.
Lidl employs around 4,000 people in Ireland and earlier this year announcedplans to hire 600 staff over the next two years.
The figures are based on a sample of 5,000 households.
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