Christmas cheer for retailers after sales bounce

Irish supermarkets had their best Christmas since 2010 as shoppers loosened their grip on their purse strings over the festive season for the first time since the height of the economic collapse.

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel covering the 12 weeks up to the beginning of January show that sales climbed by 1.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Competition for market share remains fierce and less than 2 per cent seperates the big three retailers.

Tesco continues to hold the preeminent position in the Irish retail space although its lead over second-placed Supervalu is now less than half of one per cent.

Its share of the market stands at 25.4 per cent after it reported its best performance since May 2013 thanks to an increase in customers.

SuperValu holds 25 per cent market share after a 0.3 per cent increase in sales. Almost three-quarters of all Irish households visited the retailer in the past 12 weeks, with 52,000 new shoppers enticed through the doors by its value-for-money positioning.

Despite a decline in footfall, Dunnes Stores posted seasonal sales almost exactly in line with last year.

Elsewhere in the market, Lidl and Aldi topped off an excellent year with sales growth of 15 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively. A strong Christmas extends an impressive run that has seen each retailer enjoy double digit sales growth for 14 successive months.

“Growing confidence in the economy meant shoppers relaxed the purse strings this Christmas, visiting the supermarkets more often in the seasonal period than last year,” said Georgieann Harrington, insight director at Kantar Worldpanel. “Perhaps unsurprisingly, festive shoppers reached for the treats, and sales of confectionery grew by 6 per cent, crisps and snacks were up by 3 per cent and soft drinks enjoyed a 2 per cent sales growth.”

She said the battle for market share would continue well into 2015. “With the top three retailers separated by the narrowest of margins, it really is all to play for in the coming months.”