Shoppers buying more and visiting stores more often, Kantar says

It is a largely a case of business as usual in the latest grocery market share figures released by Kantar Worldpanel, with Supervalu remaining in the number one position closely followed by Tesco and then Dunnes Stores.

According to the retail analysts, Supervalu has a market share of 22.7 per cent while Tesco was on 22.4 per cent, 1.1 per cent ahead of Dunnes Stores.

The growth of the German discounters Aldi and Lidl continues to be impressive. Lidl grew its market share by 7.2 per cent to take it to a total share of the market of 11.3 per cent. It is just ahead of Aldi which saw 2.4 per cent growth which takes its market share to 11 per cent.

The latest supermarket share figures show a strong sales boost for the grocery market with sales increasing by 4 per cent on last year.

The figures suggest consumers are making more frequent visits to supermarkets, averaging an additional four trips in the latest 12 weeks compared with last year and driving volume growth.

Coupled with increased prices, this means the average household is spending an additional €50 on groceries this year, amounting to an extra €89 million for the market.

"Each of Ireland's five main retailers has seen sales either flat or growing on the year prior to this period," said David Berry, the director at Kantar Worldpanel. He said Tesco had recruited an additional 10,000 shoppers compared to last year, with more than 80 per cent of households visiting a store in the latest 12 weeks.