The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 9 June 2013, show continuing market polarisation with Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose all stealing share from the big four retailers.

Aldi sets another all-time record share of 3.6% – an increasingly frequent occurrence for the retailer which has averaged 30% annual sales growth throughout 2013. Meanwhile, Lidl and Waitrose both hold on to their record shares of 3.0% and 4.9% respectively, with Waitrose recording growth of 10.4% – well over three times the market average.

These performances have enabled Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose to exert continued pressure on the big four with share dips for Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Only Sainsbury’s bucks the trend, increasing its share to 16.7% and posting market-beating sales growth of 3.5%.

Although Morrisons’ share continues to decline, the loss this period is the lowest for 2013 and indicates a small underlying improvement for the grocer.

Fraser McKevitt, retail analyst at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The continuing polarisation of the grocery market poses a difficult question for the big four retailers – how to make their offer appealing in an increasingly squeezed market. Asda recently announced it is going toe-to-toe with Aldi on the price of fresh food and produce, demonstrating its growing concern with the threat from the discounter.

“Savvy shoppers are looking for a good deal, but Britain’s largest supermarkets should not lose sight of the other attributes consumers are looking for in their grocer – quality products, clear provenance and an enjoyable in-store experience. The big four will have to keep an eye on maintaining these standards, even when competing on price, to make sure that they offer genuine value for money and not just cheap goods.”

Market growth is currently at 3.0%, down from 3.9% in the previous period. The dip between this year and the same period in 2012 can be largely attributed to the Diamond Jubilee.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation remains at 3.9%* for the 12 week period ending 09 June 2013. This exceeds the market growth of 3.0% which suffers from comparison with the 2012 impact of the Diamond Jubilee.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers

The app is regularly updated with the latest grocery share figures and clients can also use the app to view data for the last 2 years, a useful tool when tracking the historical performance of a retailer.

All this data is available in simple charts which clients and media can email to themselves or colleagues in a single click. The app also features a section with the latest news on the grocery industry and contact details should users require more information.

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Latest Grocery Share

The latest UK Grocery Share data will be released on 18th June and Ireland Grocery Share Data on 24th June.

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David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Aldi and Lidl have posted a combined record share of 13.6%, an increase of two percentage points from 11.6% last year. Both retailers continue to secure strong sales growth and win new customers. In the latest 12 weeks, Aldi has recruited an additional 100,000 shoppers and Lidl has added 62,000.

“In the face of continued price inflation and the onset of the Local Property Tax, shoppers continue to rein in their spending and look for the best value. Shopping across a range of different retailers is a big trend among consumers, who are making smaller, more frequent trips.”

As consumers look to save money and the discounters grow, Tesco and Dunnes have seen their sales decline, with market share falling from 28.4% to 27.6% for Tesco and 22.4% to 22.1% for Dunnes. SuperValu have again performed ahead of the market, holding onto 19.8% market share, while the recent improved performance of Superquinn continues with share maintained at 5.5%.

David continues: “Online grocery sales have grown by 7.9% in the past year, compared with an annual in-store growth of just 0.2%. With shoppers spending an average of €62 per trip on the internet compared with €22 in-store, online presents a key opportunity for the traditional retailers.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.0%* for the 12 week period ending 12 May 2013, down from the 5.3% seen last period.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 12 May 2013, confirm the polarisation of the grocery market with excellent performances from Aldi and Waitrose.

Aldi has posted an all-time record share of 3.5%, increasing from 2.8% last year. The retailer’s successes also continued, as it set its highest ever year-on-year growth, 31.5%, over the past 12 week period.

Waitrose holds on to its record share of 4.9% reported last month, with growth of 12.0% − over three times the market average.  Meanwhile, Lidl has also maintained its largest share of 3.0% and posted strong sales growth of 8.9%.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The success of Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose are clear examples of how shopping habits are divided across the country.  For many consumers, the discounters are increasingly becoming part of the weekly shop – supplementing trips to the big four retailers and offering a convenient and cheaper option.  We expect this growth to continue, particularly as store expansion plans open up the discounters to a wider number of customers.

“This market polarisation also continues to pile the pressure on the big four grocers, with only Sainsbury’s beating the market and growing its market share this period.

“Although Morrisons shows a share loss, it is worth noting that the retailer returned to growth in 2013 and continues this upward trend in the latest period − growing 1.2%. With its plans for online and accelerated convenience store coverage now in place, the retailer will hope that successful implementation will return it to share growth.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.9%* for the 12 week period ending 12 May 2013. This now matches the market growth which means that the pressure on households to trade down has lessened.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available.  It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The report highlights the opportunities for growth that exist, with only one brand in the world – Colgate – reaching more than half of the global population (65% penetration) with its oral care products.

Kantar Worldpanel’s Brand Footprint Ranking reveals the strength of brands in 32 countries around the world, across the food, beverage, health and beauty and homecare sectors. It uses an insightful new metric called Consumer Reach Points which measures – for the first time – how many households around the world are buying a brand (its penetration) and how often (the number of times shoppers acquire the brand).

This unique calculation of penetration and frequency helps FMCG manufacturers to clearly understand their global reach in terms of actual basket reach and provides a vital guide on which regions present the biggest opportunities.

The strongest global brands in the ranking have demonstrated their ability to understand and respond to local needs and reach the most remote consumers in rural areas of emerging markets by building larger distribution networks. However all of the brands still have plenty of room to recruit more shoppers in new geographies, new targets, new segments or on new occasions.

Josep Montserrat, Global CEO of Kantar Worldpanel, says “Now brands demand more in-depth analysis of their current basket reach compared to their competitors and opportunities for growth around the world. The Brand Footprint report provides this. As the pressure to maintain and increase growth intensifies for FMCG manufacturers, brand consumer base expansion and significant increase of loyalty is more critical than ever. Consumer Reach Points reveals which brands are already achieving global success and provides insight that will help other FMCG brands with international ambitions to set global targets more accurately and improve their global business growth.”

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Aldi and Lidl hold a combined 13.1% record share of the grocery market. Both retailers have succeeded in recruiting more shoppers while also encouraging existing customers to spend more. The average spend by a discounter shopper has increased from €187 last year to €209 in the same 12 week period this year.

“The winning performance of the discounters has placed significant competitive pressure on the other retailers. SuperValu has posted the strongest response with an extra 80,000 shoppers driving growth of 1.3% and keeping it ahead of the market. Superquinn is another positive performer for the Musgrave Group, recording sales growth for the second successive month.”

Meanwhile, growth for Dunnes Stores continues, albeit at a lower rate of 0.4% leading to a slight dip in market share to 22.5%. Tesco continues to perform behind the market with its share now standing at 27.7%.

David continues: “The rate of food price inflation has dropped from 5.7% last month to 5.3%. This will be a welcome boost for shoppers following the recent high of 5.8% in February. Fruit and vegetables have had the biggest impact on inflation with prices now increasing at a slower rate. Vegetable prices rose by over 13% last month and this has fallen back to 12.7%.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.3%* for the 12 week period ending 14 April 2013, down from the 5.7% seen last period.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 14 April 2013, show an increasingly polarised grocery market as Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl all posted record market shares.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Aldi has set two records in the latest period, with its highest ever growth of 31.1% delivering a record market share of 3.4%. Lidl’s market share of 3.0% is also an all-time high for the retailer.

“Pressure on household budgets is undoubtedly driving some of the growth at the discounters, but messages about quality are starting to resonate. Lidl announced this week that it will increase its fresh meat and poultry floorspace by 50% within the year, and Aldi’s new ‘convenience’ store in Kilburn is a departure from its traditional edge-of-town offering. These changes are likely to appeal to a new and different group of shoppers which will bolster the performance of the discounters even further.”

Meanwhile, the strong performance of Waitrose has continued, leading to a record share of 4.9%. Shoppers rate Waitrose highly in terms of provenance and clearly-defined supply chains – important credentials in the wake of the horsemeat scandal and factors which have clearly boosted sales at the retailer.

Within the big four, Sainsbury’s has again delivered the strongest growth with 5.4% and is the only one to increase market share, now at 16.9%. Tesco’s market share currently stands at 29.9%, Asda’s at 17.5% and Morrisons’ at 11.5%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.8%* for the 12 week period ending 14 April 2013. This is a fall from the 4.2% in our last report and is now only slightly higher than the market growth of 3.6%. This represents a welcome respite in the pressure on household budgets.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Fiona Keenan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The supermarkets have had a really strong first quarter, driven predominantly by the huge success of Skyfall. It was undoubtedly going to be the biggest title of the year and the grocers made sure they were the number one choice for consumers. Their aggressive pricing and large advertising campaigns lead to them taking over 80% of its sales to date.”

Elsewhere, HMV has performed relatively well over the past 12 weeks, which will be good news for its new owners. It now accounts for 17.6% of the market, only dropping one percentage point when compared with its share in the final quarter of 2012*.

Fiona adds: “There is still work to be done for HMV, particularly when we look at its decline over the past year and the growing dominance of its rivals. The growth of digital music has played an important part in its performance. Sales of digital music grew by 12% in quarter one compared with the same period last year and now account for almost half (47%) of all music purchases. Amazon has been fast to react to this trend, making it the largest music retailer and helping to push up its overall share within entertainment by 2.9 percentage points. HMV will need to act quickly to regain some of this market.

“One potential stumbling block for the ever dominant Amazon is the games market, where Game continues to dominate and is the biggest retailer. Although its market share has dropped at a total entertainment level, this is mainly as a result of video games making up a smaller share of the wider entertainment market. When we look just within the games market the retailer is performing strongly and is well placed to pick up any HMV games customers that may be looking elsewhere.”

* 12 week ending 23 December 2012

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, explains: “Over the past few months, there have been signs of a more competitive manufacturer dynamic. LG’s share of the market has grown by +4% year on year and HTC’s share (9.1%) is beginning to edge up again – its refreshed HTC One X+ and HTC 8S are selling well, confirming its position as the third largest smartphone manufacturer in Great Britain.”

Nokia has also seen share gains over the year and holds 5.6% of the market – this is now being driven by its Windows 8 devices appealing to consumers, rather than sales of older Windows 7 models on promotion, which is good news for margins. However, Samsung remains the top smartphone brand in Great Britain with 36.2% and Apple in second position with 29.0% share of sales in the three months to February.

Sunnebo continues: “The launch of the BlackBerry Z10 has not resulted in an immediate turn around for the Canadian company in Great Britain. Although the new model received great reviews, it’s going to take time for BlackBerry to see share gains. Consumers just don’t have the same levels of pent up demand for the handset as they did for the iPhone 5.

“Over the past few years it has been BlackBerry’s budget devices, like the Curve 8520 and 9320, which have been selling well and these attract a young, price sensitive consumer. The Z10 is a high-end handset with a price to match, so going after its existing base of consumers will require a significant trade up. The handset is likely to start selling in more serious numbers once the launch price falls, and BlackBerry 10 in general, when the range is padded out with a number of wallet-friendly mid-range offerings.”

Android continues to hold the number one OS spot in Great Britain with 58.3% in the latest period*, up from 48.3% a year ago. iOS also edges up to 29% share. Windows Phone progress continues, with its smartphone sales share hitting 6.7% in Great Britain, up from 3% the previous year.

In the latest period, smartphone penetration reached 63% in Great Britain, with smartphones making up 83% of mobile sales.

Round the World

Strong sales of the iPhone 5 in tier one Chinese cities Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing have helped Apple perform strongly in the world’s largest smartphone market with 25.8% share of the urban Chinese market. Samsung remains the top manufacturer in urban China holding 28.2% share of the market with Lenovo in third position (9.3%).

In the US the smartphone market remains dominated by iOS and Android, with a combined share of 94.7%, but Windows Phone has finally broken through the 4% share mark driven by the flagship Nokia Lumia 920.

*3 m/e Feb 2013

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Things have started to look up for both Superquinn and the grocery market as a whole. The 1.9% sales growth posted by the retailer is good news, particularly as it is the first time it has beaten the market, which is currently growing at 1.5%, since 2007. This growth has been driven by people buying more items each time they shop at Superquinn, with fresh and chilled foods proving particularly popular.

“Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are continuing to perform well, growing at 30.7% and 5.8% respectively, matching their highest ever combined market share of 12.6%.”

Meanwhile, growth at Dunnes and Tesco has continued to stall. Falling back from a peak of 4.6% in January, Dunnes has posted growth of 1.4%. Despite this, the retailer has managed to maintain growth by increasing the amount its shoppers are buying each time they visit. Tesco has performed behind the market for the third consecutive month and now sees its sales declining by 1.3%.

The grocery market continues to move on an upwards curve, from growth of 0.3% in December, 0.6% in February, to 1.5% in March. Shoppers are buying fewer items compared with last year but are spending on average €18.20 more, a trend driven mainly by the high rate of inflation.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.7%* for the 12 week period ending 17 March 2013, down slightly from the 5.8% seen last period.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 17 March 2013, show Sainsbury’s is the clear winner among the big four while elsewhere Waitrose and Aldi record the two highest percentage growth rates this period.

Fraser McKevitt, retail analyst at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Sainsbury’s year-on-year growth of 6.2% firmly beats the total market growth of 3.9%. Since 2004, its annual share has been on a rising trend and now stands at 16.8% for the 52 weeks ending 17 March.”

Market polarisation continues unabated with Waitrose and Aldi holding on to the record shares reported last month. Fraser continues: “Austerity and provenance are the key factors behind the varying retailer performances this month. Continued pressure on household budgets has helped Aldi, Lidl and Iceland to record market beating growths while Waitrose and Sainsbury’s have managed to mostly avoid adverse media coverage from the horsemeat scandal.”

Elsewhere in the big four, Asda holds on to the record share of 17.9% it achieved a year ago but there are share drops for Tesco and Morrisons.

Fraser continues: “Looking ahead, Tesco has responded with its Price Promise promotion which delivers coupons to shoppers at the tills and Morrisons has announced plans to plug its home-delivery gap during 2013. These strategies are expected to help boost the retailers’ performances going forward.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.2%* for the 12 week period ending 17 March 2013. This remains higher than the market growth of 3.9% and reflects shoppers’ coping mechanisms such as switching products and retailers and seeking out offers.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers

The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 17 February, reveal the initial impact of January’s horsemeat scandal on consumer shopping habits.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The impact of the horsemeat issue has so far only affected what consumers put in their baskets rather than where they do their shopping. For the four weeks ending 17 February frozen burger sales were down by 42% as shoppers chose to buy alternative meals.

“Aldi continues to set the pace with sales growth of 29%, increasing its share of the market from 4.6% last year to 5.9%. What is notable from Aldi’s performance is that it has grown sales of fruit and vegetables – the most valuable grocery category – by 39% this year

“Among the big three supermarkets Dunnes is the only grocer to increase its share of the market. Benefitting from bigger shopping baskets, the retailer beat the market with 4.1% sales growth. Tesco’s performance has improved slightly since January but still remains behind the market, leading to a drop in market share for the second successive period.”

The 0.8% growth seen in the market is the highest level since December 2011 and is attributable to the continued increase in the price of groceries.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.8%* for the 12 week period ending 17 February 2013, the highest level seen since the 6.2% seen in September 2008.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

The company, which specialises in consumer and shopper insights and has the largest continuous panel in Great Britain, was listed 81st in the ranking of 100 companies.

Best Companies surveys employees to measure several areas of employee engagement including the leadership team, employee well-being, community involvement, employee personal growth, and day-to-day management. Key to Kantar Worldpanel’s success in this year’s list is that employees have great confidence in the senior management team and feel inspired by Managing Director Tim Kidd who they describe as a ‘bright, caring and engaged leader’. The commitment the business shows to giving back to the local community is also important and 77% of staff think the company has a strong social conscience.

Tim Kidd, managing director at Kantar Worldpanel UK, Ireland and USA, comments: “This recognition is a great achievement. It reflects the exceptionally positive engagement of our employees and also helps in our ambition to be a ‘go to’ employer.

“Our industry is no longer just about providing the data. Clients need analysis, interpretation and strategic guidance to help them grow their business. This requires good people. We have been working hard to make our company a place people really want to work and we’re pleased to see we’re succeeding.”

For more information please contact Suzannah Rowland on 02089671663 or email Suzannah.rowland@kantarworldpanel.com

About Kantar Worldpanel

Kantar Worldpanel is the world leader in consumer knowledge and insights based on continuous consumer panels. Its High Definition Inspiration™ approach combines market monitoring, advanced analytics and tailored market research solutions to deliver both the big picture and the fine detail that inspire successful actions by its clients. Kantar Worldpanel’s expertise about what people buy or use – and why – has become the market currency for brand owners, retailers, market analysts and government organisations globally.

In the UK our consumer panel of 30,000 households enables us to offer the largest single source of continuous consumer and shopper insights in fields as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.co.uk

About Kantar

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The issue has so far only affected the performance of individual markets rather than where consumers are choosing to shop. For the four weeks ending 17 February, frozen burger sales were down by 43% and frozen ready meals declined by 13%, clearly demonstrating a change in shopping habits.

“Tesco’s share has come under pressure this period, with a drop from 30.1% a year ago to 29.7% now. It might seem natural to attribute this decline to the horsemeat contamination; however, Tesco undertook heavy promotions this time last year, where consumers received a £5 voucher when they spent £40, and not repeating this offer will have adversely affected its share.”

Within the big four, Sainsbury’s is the only retailer to increase share this period, beating the market with a 4.6% growth rate. Morrisons is the only retailer to post a sales decline.

Edward continues: “Waitrose and Aldi deliver all-time record shares this period of 4.8% and 3.3% respectively indicating that market polarisation and the ‘two nations’ consumer climate continues. Iceland records 10.1% growth confirming that the frozen food category as a whole remains robust.”

The total grocery market is growing at an annual rate of 3.7% which lags behind grocery price inflation of 4.3%. This confirms the continued pressure on shoppers who are using coping strategies to reduce their personal inflation rate.

Please note the video commentary refers to12 w/e 17th February 2013 – not 17th January 2013 as stated in the video

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “4.6% sales growth is Dunnes’ strongest performance for four years and highlights the success of the ‘Shop and Save’ campaign launched in the run up to Christmas. Shoppers have responded well to this offer, picking up more items every time they shop and increasing the average size of their baskets by almost €3 to €36.70 – an increase of 9%. This has opened a considerable gap between Dunnes and its competition, with the average Tesco and SuperValu shop standing at €30.40 and €22.40 respectively.

“Its consistent performance also stands out, with strong sales across a range of grocery aisles including fresh produce, alcohol, soft drinks, crisps and also chilled convenience food.

“Tesco has seen its share of the grocery market dip by half a percentage point this year, moving from 28.1% to 27.6%. Its sales growth has also declined by 1%. This is the first time Tesco has dropped behind grocery market growth since October 2009, demonstrating the success of the retailer up until now. One opportunity for it to get back on track is to build on the increasing number of trips to its stores which we have seen in recent months and get customers spending more.”

Elsewhere, Aldi continues to set the pace as the retailer enjoys the strongest level of growth, albeit slightly below its previous rate of 30%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.2%* for the 12 week period ending 20 January 2013, ahead of the 5.0% in the previous period and the highest since the 5.6% seen in May 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “These positive results are a sign of stabilisation for Tesco as the retailer gets back on track with its customers. However, this improvement has put some pressure on the rest of the big four with Morrisons in particular suffering a drop in sales and a share decline of 0.6 percentage points in the latest period.”

The strongest growth recorded during this latest period is at the discount and premium ends of the market. The Waitrose figures echo the record Christmas it reported, with strong year-on-year growth of 8%.

Meanwhile, the discount outlets, and Aldi in particular, lead the way in the first stage of 2013 – strongly out-performing the market with growth rates of 28.2% for Aldi and 10% for Lidl. Iceland holds on to the record 2.2% share reported last period.

Edward Garner continues: “It is worth noting the improved performance from The Co-operative this month, with the retailer recording a sales increase of 0.9%. This growth contrasts with the declines posted throughout 2012 and could be a positive step for the grocer.”

The widening gap between market growth, currently at 3.3%, and grocery price inflation (4.9%) is causing a squeeze on shopping budgets. As a result, there is a heightened need for retailers to deliver value for money to customers.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.9%* for the 12 week period ending 20 January 2013. This is an increase on the 4.5% reported last period and continues a rising trend since September last year.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel* show Amazon grew its share of the entertainment market by 3.1 percentage points to 23.4% in the run up to Christmas – increasing its lead over the troubled HMV.

Fiona Keenan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Christmas resulted in an all-time record share for Amazon. The retailer posted growth across all categories, with its most notable performance in CD sales – historically HMV’s stronghold. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it would benefit the most from possible HMV store closures. HMV shoppers are more likely to shop in physical stores, leaving the likes of Game and the grocers in a good position if HMV leaves the high street – particularly if they react quickly.”

Asda has had a strong quarter and is the only grocer to have grown its share, which now stands at 10.4%. This was mainly driven by its performance within games, on the back of the big Christmas releases, which pushed it significantly closer to Tesco within this category.

Fiona continues: “Amazon’s strong performance may not sit so well for the wider industry as a move away from the high street brings with it a move away from impulse purchasing. Last year, HMV music customers spent £61m on CDs picked up while browsing. Generating sales in this way remains a challenge for online retailers.”

Despite gifting being key in the fourth quarter, the biggest proportion of sales came from people buying for personal use with gifting sales down across all categories. Sought after expensive hardware, such as tablets, kindles, and smartphones, is now topping the gifting charts, leaving customers with less money to spend on mid-priced items. However, with an upsurge in advanced hardware also comes an increase in software sales, meaning that the overall entertainment market is likely to see a post Christmas boost, with digital sales doing particularly well.

* Published today for the 12 w/e 23 December 2012

Elsewhere, Windows is experiencing strong European growth, particularly in Britain and Italy, with shares hitting 5.9% and 13.9% respectively – up from just 2.2% and 2.8% a year ago.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “At the end of 2012 the global OS picture shows Android on top, but clearly the rate of growth it experienced over the past year is beginning to slow as easy wins from first time smartphone buyers begin to reduce.

“It has been far slower than Microsoft would have liked, but Windows Phone is now starting to gain respectable shares in a number of key European countries. However, its performance in the Chinese and US markets remains underwhelming. As the two largest smartphone markets in the world, these remain key challenges for Microsoft to overcome during 2013.”

iOS continues to perform well in the States, now holding half of the US smartphone market for two consecutive periods and taking two-thirds of the rapidly expanding Japanese smartphone market.

Sunnebo continues: “Among the handset manufacturers, Samsung has held onto the number one spot in Britain, claiming 35% of smartphone sales, although Apple is now biting at its heels with 32%. Nokia is experiencing something of a turnaround in Britain with its smartphone sales share at 6.2% and actual sales growing by over 50% compared with last year. Meanwhile, BlackBerry continues to find trading tough in the run up to the BlackBerry 10 release; however, its 9320 handset gave it a boost over Christmas with two-thirds bought as a gifts.”

Smartphones proved popular over the festive season with a third of all handsets bought in December given as Christmas gifts. The BlackBerry 9320 was the most popular gifted handset in December, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Apple iPhone 4S. The majority of smartphone gift recipients were under 18 years old and 57% were women. More than one in five handsets bought as gifts in Britain during December were from Tesco.

Smartphone percentage penetration in Great Britain hit 61% in the latest period, 82% of all mobile phone sales over the past 12 weeks were smartphones.

* 12 w/e 23rd December 2012

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “These festive trading figures show a dead heat between Tesco and Sainsbury’s in the battle for Christmas. Both posted identical growth rates of 3.9% – just ahead of the total market – and market shares unchanged from a year ago. This represents a clear improvement in Tesco’s fortunes following a series of share dips in 2012 but it is also a strong performance from Sainsbury’s which had been predicted to suffer disproportionately from the Tesco fight-back by some commentators.”

The small Asda share dip represents a bedding-in of the Netto acquisition with its 17.7% share strong by historical standards for this period. Morrisons’ sales decline is consistent with previous reports.

Edward continues: “Waitrose’s strong performance over the seasonal period is reflected in its 8.6% growth rate, which is over twice the market average. Although this six week report is, strictly speaking, not comparable with our usual 12-week series it is worth noting that the Waitrose share is higher than any previous share we have reported for the retailer.

“Elsewhere, shoppers continued to seek value for money with ongoing positive performances for Aldi, Lidl and Iceland.”

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The strong performance of Dunnes comes after a prolonged period of under-performance, with market share hitting a low point of 21.4% in September. The boost in share over Christmas has regained some of this lost ground and places the retailer in a more competitive position for 2013.”

Growth across the grocery market remains subdued at just 0.3%; this is despite an increase in price inflation to 5%. David continues: “One of the biggest factors influencing the price of groceries is the poor growing conditions seen during the summer of 2012. Vegetables are an important part of the grocery basket, particularly in the run up to Christmas, and we have seen some sharp price increases. With an extra €17m spent on Christmas ‘must haves’ like sprouts and potatoes, there has been less of the household budget available for ‘treat’ groceries such as soft drinks and confectionery.”

Among the other retailers, Aldi continues to post exceptional sales growth of 30% and its share has overtaken Lidl for the first time, becoming the fourth ranked grocery retailer in the state. Despite this milestone there is evidence that shoppers have again shifted some of their spending back to traditional supermarkets over Christmas. Aldi and Lidl achieved a combined 12.6% market share in October, with this dipping to 11.9% in the latest month.

Elsewhere, Tesco and SuperValu have both performed broadly in line with the market, with Tesco holding market share at 27.8% and SuperValu dipping marginally to 19.5%.

Superquinn has performed behind the overall market, but a reduction of the sales decline has resulted in a better Christmas for the retailer compared with 2009, 2010 and 2011.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.0%* for the 12 week period ending 23 December 2012, ahead of the 4.2% in the previous period and the highest since the 5.6% seen in May 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Among the big four supermarkets Sainsbury’s is, once again, the only retailer to increase its share compared with last year. Tesco’s share has dipped slightly, from 30.6% to 30.5%, however this is an improvement on the performance seen throughout 2012, when the average share drop was 0.4%, suggesting that festive shoppers gave the retailer a welcome boost in the run up to Christmas.

“The well-publicised under-performance of Morrisons continues and it is the only big four supermarket to lose sales compared with last year. This highlights its need to address the lack of convenience outlets and an online offering in 2013, as already clearly identified by the retailer.”

The ongoing strong performances of the premium and discount ends of the market continued in the lead up to the festive period. Waitrose has achieved 5.4% growth, while Aldi, Lidl and Iceland posted respective growth rates of 30.1%, 10.8% and 9.7%. Iceland’s 2.2% share is a 12-year record for the retailer.

Edward Garner continues: “Historically, the discounter sector has seen its share dip at Christmas as shoppers treat themselves and trade up, but the all-time record share of 3.2% for Aldi is a sign of the times and shows that this is no longer the case. Aldi and Lidl both benefitted from carrying items such as goose, venison and fine wines in their pre-Christmas catalogues this year. It seems that offering premium products at budget prices has paid off for the discount retailers.

“The polarisation of the market is highlighted by consumer spend levels which were widely anticipated to drop this year. While 47% of shoppers did reduce their spend in the lead up to Christmas, 48% of shoppers increased their spend by 4.5% (the rate of inflation) showing that ‘two nations’ continues to be a key feature of the grocery market.”

The Kantar Worldpanel measure of grocery price inflation has sharply increased to 4.5%, suggesting that 2013 could bring a renewed period of pressure on household budgets as shoppers trade down to cope.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.5%* for the 12 week period ending 23 December 2012. This is an increase on the 3.5% we reported last period and continues a rising trend since September last year.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The strong performances from Waitrose, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl continue to be a key feature of the grocery market. In particular, the advance of Aldi continues unabated and its 27.3% growth is being built on a solid foundation with 10% more shoppers than a year ago and 17% growth in the value of each shopping basket.”

Aldi intends to open another 40 stores in 2013 which will bring its total to over 500 outlets. Some of these will be smaller high street stores, which will help the retailer to become more competitive in the convenience market and is likely to cement its success further.
Edward continues: “Sainsbury’s is once again the top performer of the big four and has beaten the market with year-on-year growth of 4.7%. While the other big three retailers all experience share losses, it has managed to lift its share from 16.7% last year to 16.9% now.

“These share losses are particularly acute for Morrisons which has experienced a sales decline of 1.1%, bringing its share down from 12.3% a year ago to 11.7% now. The online grocery channel is currently growing at nearly 20% per annum, and Morrisons’ absence from this channel will be holding it back. However, it is expected that online wine sales via Morrisons Cellar will make a start on addressing this.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.5%* for the 12 week period ending 25 November 2012. This is an increase on the 3.0% we reported last period and the recent low of 2.6% for September, and is largely driven by increases in Fresh Foods and Alcohol.

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_UK and join the debate #kwpmarketshare.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “The last time we saw iOS overtake Android in the US was when the iPhone 4S was released and Apple managed to retain its lead for three consecutive periods. This time we predict that Apple will beat its previous high of 49.3% and achieve its highest ever share of the US smartphone market within the next two periods.”

Apple’s rise in the US has not been replicated in quite the same way across Europe where Android still takes the lead, accounting for 73.9% of sales in Germany and 81.7% in Spain. However, it is now enjoying share gains in four of the five major European countries with a particularly strong performance in Britain where it holds a 32.7% share.

Sunnebo continues: “Germany remains a tough market for Apple with its share falling by 5.1 percentage points over the past year. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has taken almost a quarter of the country’s smartphone sales over the past 12 weeks to boost Android yet further. In Italy, strong sales of the Nokia Lumia 610, the fourth best selling handset over the past 12 weeks, and the Nokia Lumia 800, the seventh best selling, have helped drive Windows’ share up to 11.7% – the highest across Europe.”

iPhone 5 success – building on loyalty

The majority of US iPhone 5 sales, 62%, have come from existing Apple owners upgrading to the new device, although Apple has also benefitted from people switching from Android devices (13%), people switching from BlackBerry devices (6%) and a small number of first time smartphone owners.

Sunnebo comments: “Apple has always managed to maintain loyalty levels far above the competition, and this has clearly played a part in driving sales of its new device. An impressive 92% of existing Apple owners in the US said they will choose an iPhone the next time they upgrade. While loyalty is clearly key, it is also important to make sure that new customers are attracted to your brand. With roughly 60% of US iPhone 5 sales coming from existing customers and 40% from new consumers, Apple is achieving this at the moment – a clear sign of the strength of the brand in the US marketplace.”

One of the key physical changes on the iPhone 5 was the inclusion of a bigger 4” screen and 4G/LTE capability, both of which appear to have had a big impact on the ways consumers are using their devices compared to previous models.

Sunnebo continues: “Previous KWP ComTech data has shown that bigger screens make a significant impact on the reality of how consumers actually use their device, and the latest usage data shows this is clearly the case for the iPhone 5. The usage data is likely to come down over time as iPhone 5 users at this stage will inevitably be early adopters and therefore more engaged with the category, but initial signs are very positive.”

*12 w/e 28 October 2012

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “While the growth seen this month is a good sign for the grocery market, we are not out of the woods just yet and many grocery retailers are still struggling. Shoppers are continuing to watch their purse strings, buying fewer groceries per trip but shopping more often. They are also spreading their spend across a broader spectrum of stores, meaning that it is a challenge for the grocers to drive sales growth.

“Aldi continues to be the standout performer; it has posted growth of over 30% and improved its share of the market from 4.7% last year to a record high of 6.1%. A key feature of its success is its ability to bring in new shoppers, with 70,000 more through the door this year, while also encouraging them to come back more often.”

Lidl and Tesco have also posted solid results, both growing ahead of the market and boosting their respective shares by 0.2 and 0.6 percentage points. Both retailers have also benefitted from the ‘shop more, spend less’ trend which has helped attract new customers to their stores.

Dunnes has reversed its recent decline in fortunes with an increase in market share to 22.4%, compared with 21.6% last month. This coincides with its October initiative which gave shoppers €5 back for every €50 spent in store. With initial results suggesting that shoppers have responded well to this deal, it will be interesting to see how each of the competing retailers will respond in the lead up to the Christmas period.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.1%* for the 12 week period ending 28th October 2012, up from 2.6% in the previous period and the highest since the 4.4% seen in August 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

The stand-out performer is Sainsbury’s, which has delivered a 0.4 percentage point jump in market share – moving from 16.4% a year ago to 16.8% now. Paralympics sponsorship, Brand Match and own-label investment have all helped to boost Sainsbury’s appeal to its shoppers.

Tesco continues to experience the pressure on share that has been a feature of the past year, growing behind the market at 2.1%.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Morrison’s performance this month will cause concern, with its share dropping from 12.0% to 11.5% and a decline in sales of 0.4%. Recent announcements about the development of online and convenience, which are the two fastest growing grocery channels, will no doubt be given added urgency as these channels continue to deliver growth for competitors.”

Asda’s share is unchanged this period as the effect of the Netto acquisition has largely dropped out of the year-on-year comparisons.

The discounters continue to progress as Aldi reaches a 3.0% market share – yet another all-time record for the retailer. Waitrose also impresses, as it gears up for its traditionally strong Christmas period, by holding on to the record 4.7% share it achieved last period.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.0%* for the 12 week period ending 28 October 2012. This is an increase on the 2.6% we reported last period and may herald further increases going forward as the widely reported rises in world foodstuff prices work their way through to retail channels.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Amazon continues to be the overall star performer with a 20.3% share of the market, up from 16.9% last year. Although it has performed well across all categories, games sales in particular have helped to drive its growth. iTunes Music has also posted strong results, growing its share by 2.8 percentage points, as it makes the most of the increasing popularity of digital music.

Fiona Keenan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Sainsbury’s success in the entertainment market is partly down to consumers switching their spend from other retailers, in particular from HMV and Game. However, it has also managed to encourage existing shoppers to spend more – those customers who purchased entertainment products from Sainsbury’s in quarter three last year spent an extra £4 million on videos, games and music in the same quarter this year.

“Sainsbury’s will also be benefitting from increased footfall with the number of times shoppers visit its stores growing by 2.6% year-on-year over the same 12 week period. As 51% of the retailer’s entertainment sales come from impulse purchases, having shoppers in its stores more often will naturally lead to growth in non-food categories too.”

Although HMV has seen a slight drop in share, this is smaller than the declines seen in recent periods. This is down to the retailer’s strong performance in video, where it still holds the number one spot, accelerated by its recent five for £30 Blu-ray promotion.

The declines in share for Game Group are a result of the overall games category losing share in the broader entertainment market.

of iPhone 5 sales show iOS gaining in the US and Great Britain. (†Apple iPhone 5 released on 21st September in US, GB, Germany & France. Italy & Spain on 28th September. Not yet released in China & Brazil)

Apple has increased its share from 18.1% to 28.0% in the past year across Britain, while in the US its share increased by 14.2 percentage points.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “While this latest data set only includes one week of iPhone 5 sales, we can see that in markets with a large number of existing Apple customers, sales have already seen a significant boost. We expect this momentum to be fully realised in the next set of results.

Tomorrow the UK joins the likes of the US, Germany and much of Scandinavia with the rollout of EE’s superfast 4G network.

Sunnebo comments: “The rollout of 4G across the UK tomorrow is great news for consumers wishing to replicate their home WiFi experience on the go. EE is in the unique position of being the only operator currently able to offer 4G services in the UK, but how much of an impact this will have on the competitive landscape remains an unknown.

“We expect to see a significant number of early adopters on Orange and T-Mobile trading up to a 4G EE contract; however, encouraging significant switching from competitors is likely to remain challenging. Consumers are increasingly savvy about new technology and there are likely to be a significant number of consumers who will wait until the likes of Vodafone and O2 bring out there offerings, in the hope that prices will be driven down.

“The message to consumers about the advantages of 4G over existing 3G will need to be very clear and indicate new possibilities which are open to subscribers. For example, already over 65% of Smartphone users access social networks on their phones, but it is in areas such as mobile TV and feature length streaming that 4G is likely to really open up new media rich experiences to users.”

In Great Britain smartphones made up 81% of all mobile sales, with this figure rising to 94% among 25-34 year olds. Even among 65+ consumers, smartphones made up 58% of purchases demonstrating the demise of the feature phone is imminent.

China

Initial results from the first continuous mobile phone research panel in China show iOS and Android make up 84% of all smartphone sales, with a total of 209 million Smartphone owners.

Sunnebo adds: “Samsung is the most popular Android manufacturer in China, with sales of Samsung Galaxy SII and SIII spearheading growth. HTC is also performing strongly as a result of its new Desire series. However, the number of Android OS manufacturers in the Chinese market is keeping more established global brands under pressure. Local brands such as Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and Coolpad are all providing high-spec, low cost handsets that lower tier cities crave.”

* 12 w/e 30th September 2012

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Aldi has been the star performer for a number of years and this is reflected in its 29.8% growth rate. Its strong performance is down to a solid combination of new store openings, a strong advertising campaign and a consistent evolution of the goods on offer in store. All of this means that Aldi has firmly established its position as the number five retailer in Ireland with a 6% share of the market and is now closing the gap on Lidl.”

Shoppers are continuing to keep close control over their spending – an austerity trend which has led to the value of the Irish grocery market falling by 0.5%. This is despite a slight increase in the Kantar Worldpanel inflation measure to 2.6%*. This trend is further demonstrated by consumers choosing to shop more often for fewer items.

Tesco and SuperValu have out-performed the market and are beginning to gain some momentum, both achieving higher growth rates than last month. Lidl has seen a moderate growth of 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%, although its 1% growth rate is the lowest it has posted this year.

David Berry continues: “While the grocery market as a whole remains subdued, there are still some areas that are performing well. Sales of alcohol at the grocers have grown by 8% this quarter, showing that staying in and have a drink is an increasingly popular choice for those of us who are on a budget.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.6%* for the 12 week period ending 30 September 2012, up from 2.3% in the previous period but significantly below the 4.4% seen in August 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KWP_EIRE

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Among the big four supermarkets, the stand out performance is from Sainsbury’s. Its sponsorship of the Paralympic games has clearly borne fruit, boosting its sales in this period. The retailer has also been bolstered by its Brand Match promotion and the ongoing relaunch of its own label range – both of which are proving popular with consumers.

“It has also been a record-breaking period for Waitrose, posting its highest ever share of 4.7% and building on the strong performance we have seen over the past decade.”

The grocery market as a whole is growing at 3.9%. This is above the Kantar Worldpanel inflation measure of 2.6%* meaning that, despite a background of austerity, there is currently real growth in the market.

Asda has also out-performed the market adding 0.1 share points – this is lower than the growths seen earlier this year as the effect of the Netto stores acquisition drops out of the year-on-year comparisons.

The results of Sainsbury’s and Asda contrast with Tesco and Morrisons which have both lost share over this period.

Edward Garner concludes: “The growth of the discounters and Iceland continue to be a strong feature of the market. In particular, Aldi has been delivering growth in excess of 20% per year since mid-2011 – clear evidence that value for money allied to a growing emphasis on product quality is encouraging shoppers to increase their loyalty to the outlet.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.6%* for the 12 week period ending 30 September 2012. This continues the downward trend from the recent peak of 6.2% in November 2011. However, this situation is threatened by stubbornly high world food prices as a result of poor grain harvests in the USA, Russia and Ukraine.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “Windows is making steady progress in the big European economies and is now challenging BlackBerry for third spot in the European OS league. With the momentum Windows 8 will bring towards the end of 2012, it seems highly likely that it will achieve this before the end of the year.

“Lower end devices are driving sales of the platform as consumers seek value, resulting in growth rates of 6.6% in Italy, 3.5% in France and 2.3% in Great Britain.* In Italy, Windows now holds a double-digit market share, 10.4%, a first in the European market.”

Samsung also continues to power on across Europe, with smartphone share across the big five European markets at 48% in the latest 12 weeks. After joining the European smartphone market late Sony is making up for lost time with its Xperia series, outselling both BlackBerry and Nokia as a result of strong performances in Spain, Germany and France. Apple’s iOS has seen its share decline by 4.3% across Europe’s major markets in the period leading up to the iPhone 5 release. However, this is set to rebound strongly with the success of the new model reflected in next month’s data.

In the US, iOS and Android combined took 93% of all smartphone sales in the latest 12 weeks, putting into perspective the scale of the challenge facing both RIM and Windows in one of the world’s most important markets.

Smartphone penetration is now at 57.6% in Great Britain, with smartphones taking 80.4% of all sales in the latest 12 weeks.

* 12 w/e 02nd September 2012

The winners of the inaugural Information Is Beautiful Awards – Inspired by Kantar, were announced last Thursday at a very special event at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts.

The Awards were created in partnership by leading data visualisation studio Information Is Beautiful and world leader in research and insight Kantar as the world’s first global contest to celebrate excellence and beauty in data visualization, infographics and data journalism.

David McCandless, founder of Information Is Beautiful, presented the winning designers with a specially commissioned trophy and a share of the prize money generously offered by Kantar.

McCandless said: “Data visualisation is a rising trend across many domains - web, science, media, politics - and it’s a really artful, really tricky fusion of analysis, design and story-telling.

“But we’ve been blown away by the standard and variety of the entries. Big congratulations to all the winners. It’s been great to celebrate and support their talent.”

Aziz Cami, creative director of Kantar, added: “We never imagined the bar would be set so high! The awards have really demonstrated the power of data visualisation as both a creative and commercial tool. Thanks again to all our entrants.”

The Information is Beautiful Awards opened in Spring 2012 and entries closed on 31 May. There were over 1,000 entries from all over the world and the shortlist was announced on Friday 10 August.

The winners were selected by a panel of judges including ground-breaking musician and visual artist Brian Eno, Paola Antonelli, senior curator, Museum of Modern Art; Maria Popova, editor of cultural curation website BrainPickings.org and Simon Rogers, editor, Guardian Datablog.

The online visualisation community was invited to vote for the Community Award and their votes also contributed to the final totals.

The winners and runners up in each category – plus links to the Gold category winners – are listed below.

For further information please visit:

http://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/2012/09/information-is-beautiful-awards-winners/

For all media requests please contact:

Lindsay McMurdo lindsay.mcmurdo@kantar.com +44 (0)7768 591977

Dan Phelan dan@danphelancommunications.com +44 (0) 7764335244

Editors’ Notes

The winners and runners-up by category are:

Data Visualisation

Gold: Information graphics in context, Peter Ørntoft

Silver: Look at the sky, Carla Fernandez / Arce

Bronze: Lunar calendar, Dimitre Lima

Infographic/Infodesign

Gold: Cover mania, Michele Mauri

Silver: Envisioning emerging technology for 2012 and Beyond, Michell Zappa Bronze: Paulo Estriga CV, Paulo Estriga

Interactive Visualisation

Gold: Notabilia, Moritz Stefaner, Dario Taraborelli, Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia

Silver: The American Energy Spectrum, Hyperakt, Deroy Peraza, Eric Fensterhei

Bronze: Evolution of Web, Hyperakt, Deroy Peraza, Eric Fensterhei

Data Journalism

Gold: CNN Home & Away, Stamen

Silver: Government Spending, Guardian data and graphics teams

Bronze: Metallica on Stage, Deniz Cem Önduygu, Amaç Herdağdelen, Eser Aygün

Motion Infographic

Gold: Afghanistan - What is the true cost of war?, Peter Jeffs, Tom Stevenson

Silver: Stuxnet: Anatomy of a virus, Patrick Clair, Scott Mitchell

Bronze: Economist - The Seventh Billion, Economist.com team

Tool or Website

Gold: The Antimap, Trent Brooks

Silver: FF Chartwell, Travis Kochel and FontFont

Bronze: Gephi, Mathieu Bastian, Sébastien Heymann, Mathieu Jacomy

Special Awards

Studio Award:

Hyperakt

Best individual contribution:

Moritz Stefaner

Student Award:

Timeline of the Universe, Omid Kashan

Corporate Award:

The Interactive UK Energy Consumption Guide, Epiphany Search (Gaz Battersby and Bryan James)

Information Art:

Judges’ note: Regrettably the entries did not meet the necessary standards.

Community Award

Metallica on Stage, Deniz Cem Önduygu, Amaç Herdağdelen, Eser Aygün

Challenge Winner, infodesign

The Top Most Profitable Movies of 2001 Across 22 Story Types, Cristina Vanko

Challenge Winner, interactive

Budgets Big and Small, Daniel Leventhal

Ultimate Award – Most Beautiful

CNN Home & Away, Stamen

About Information is Beautiful

Information is Beautiful is a pioneering network of journalists, creatives and technologists pushing the boundaries of data journalism and information design. Our passion is visualizing information – facts, data, ideas, subjects, issues, statistics, questions – all with the minimum of words. We’re fascinated with how designed information can help us understand the world, cut through clutter and reveal the hidden connections, patterns and stories beneath. Or, failing that, just look cool.

About Kantar

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.aboutkantar.com.

ENDS

The market has fallen by 0.6% during the past year and price inflation is currently running at 2.3%; this means that grocery staples are becoming more expensive and the average shopper has less to spend on them.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “As speculation around the December budget increases shoppers are looking to tighten their grip on household spending. As a result the size of the average shopping basket is at its lowest level for seven years, dropping from an average of €22.50 last year to €21.30. Shoppers are reducing their spending by adopting a ‘little and often’ approach to shopping trips, which is helping them to limit wastage as they only buy what they need when then need it.”

Tesco and SuperValu have both posted moderate sales growth of 2.4% and 0.4% this month. However, Aldi remains the standout performer with sales growth of over 28%, lifting its share of the market from 4.5% to 5.9%. Aldi is also the only retailer to see an increase in both the number of shoppers in through the doors, having attracted an additional 98,000 to the store this year, and also the amount each shopper spends in store.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.3%* for the 12 week period ending 2 September 2012, up from 2.1% in the previous period but significantly below the 4.4% seen in August 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Despite ongoing pressures, things seem to be looking up in the grocery market and shoppers are not having to trade down to the same extent as they have done over the past year.”

Among the big four, Tesco’s share has dropped from 30.9% a year ago to 30.8% – a relatively small decline compared with most of 2012 and evidence of some success in its fight-back. Although Asda outperforms the market with growth of 4.5%, this is now easing back as the effect of the Netto acquisition falls out of the year-on-year comparisons.

Edward continues: “Sainsbury’s maintains its robust run and beats the market with 3.8% growth. This is part of a longer-term trend which has seen the retailer continue to grow its share for the past nine years. The high-profile Paralympics sponsorship will no doubt provide further support but this won’t be fully seen in the figures until next month.”

“The pressure on Morrisons continues with its share slipping from 11.7% a year ago to 11.5%. However, this is to some extent inevitable, as the retailer presently offers no online ordering and currently only a small number of ‘M Local’ convenience outlets – two areas which are currently major contributors to the growth of its three main competitors.

“Outside of the big four, Aldi continues to be the star performer and holds on to its all-time record share with growth of 26.6%. This is driven mainly by dramatic growth in spend levels of existing customers - up 36% over the past two years - rather than an increased number of shoppers.”

At the same time, we continue to see the diverse nature of households and their shopping habits through Waitrose’s performance. The retailer holds on to its all-time record share of 4.6% and outperforms the market once again with growth of 7.8%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.9%* for the 12 week period ending 2 September 2012. This continues the downward trend from the recent peak of 6.2% for November 2011. However, this measure may have bottomed-out with poor grain harvests driving inflationary spikes going forward.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, explains: “Android continues to dominate the European market in the build up to the iPhone 5 release, increasing its share by 20.2 percentage points in the past year. Surprisingly, Windows has managed to maintain its 5% share despite a raft of new Windows 8 products being announced. However, this has been achieved through heavy discounting.

Phones with bigger screens are becoming noticeably more popular – 29% of the Android devices sold in the past 12 weeks have a screen size of over 4.5 inches.

Dominic continues: “It is interesting to look at the impact a larger screen size has on how consumers use their smartphones, particularly as the line between tablets and smartphones becomes more blurred. Consumers who own a smartphone with a larger screen tend to be much more engaged with their device across a whole array of functions. For example, only 19% of consumers with a screen smaller than three inches download and watch videos, compared to 65% when the screen is five inches or more.

“However, bigger screens don’t just lead to an improved consumer experience; they also play a key part in customer retention. ComTech data shows that the more engaged consumers are with their device, the more likely they are to stay loyal to an OS or brand when they upgrade.”

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Value for money remains at the top of the agenda for shoppers who are becoming more selective about which products they buy and where they buy them. This has meant we have seen a surge in sales of retailer own brand goods across most categories, with everyday staples such as bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits and soft drinks doing well in particular. In fact, over the past two years ambient own label ranges like these have gained an additional four share points within the total market.”

Discounters continue to benefit from consumers watching their wallets, with retailers Aldi and Lidl now accounting for 12.4% of the total market. SuperValu has also performed well this period, posting growth of 0.3%, while Superquinn’s market share has remained solid at 5.5%, which is consistent with its position from last month.

David adds: “Tesco continues to perform strongly, posting sales growth of 3%. This is fuelled in part by a rise in a ‘little and often’ approach to grocery shopping which is driving customers through the doors more regularly. The economic imperative to reduce waste has led to an extra 3.9 million shopping trips over the latest quarter when compared to last year, although the challenge for the market is that each trip has reduced in value by over €1.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.1%* for the 12 week period ending 5 August 2012, down from 2.7% in the previous period but significantly below the 4.4% seen in August 2011.

*This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

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The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 5 August, show the grocery market has bounced back and is now growing at 3.9%. This is compared with the 2.1% reported just a month ago.

The big four supermarkets all performed strongly, with Asda and Sainsbury’s leading the pack and growing at 6.2% and 4.6% respectively. Although Tesco continues to lose share, this is now at a slower rate as it begins to close the gap with its rivals.

Fraser McKevitt, retail analyst at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “It’s too early to attribute improved grocery sales to the Olympics, however, the increased market growth rate coincides with the opening week of London 2012 and the better weather in July.”

“Shoppers might not yet notice it at the tills, but they are starting to benefit from lower grocery inflation, with prices now rising at 3.2%* – the slowest rate for 18 months and a sign that things are starting to look up. Despite this, consumers are still seeking economy products and retailers are reflecting this demand in their store offerings. The lowest priced own label lines, such as Tesco Everyday Value, are growing at 13% while premium own label sales are falling by 4% year-on-year.”

The number of shoppers looking for value has helped both Aldi and Lidl maintain their double digit growth. Iceland continues to benefit from the strong frozen food sector with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.0%. At the other end of the price spectrum, Waitrose has grown by 7.4% – a considerable uplift on the relatively weak 4.8% growth posted last period.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.2%* for the 12 week period ending 5 August 2012. This continues the downward trend from the recent peak of 6.2% for November 2011 and reflects lower inflation in dairy markets, particularly falling milk prices.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Mark Thomson, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The economic situation has been tough in Ireland throughout 2012, and consequently consumers have been looking to control their spend at the weekly shop. Shoppers have spent €26.8 million less at the tills than they did during this period last year as household budgets remain squeezed. This has also resulted in a 1.9% rise in sales of own label products as consumers try to control their weekly spend. This trend is bolstered by the strong growth of discount retailers who predominately stock their own range of brands.

“Aldi and Lidl now have a combined share of 12.2% and are the big winners from austerity shopping, with respective growth rates of 22.5% and 3.4%. Tesco has also performed strongly, extending its market-leading share to 28.7% this quarter. This has been driven largely by good performance across key areas of the store such as fresh and chilled products.”

Despite ongoing pressures on the grocery market and Ireland’s early exit from the Euro 2012 championships, shopper spend on alcohol was up 3.6% over the latest period with discounters seeing the biggest jump in sales.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.7%** for the 12 week period ending 8th July 2012, up from 2.6% in the previous period but significantly below the 3.8% seen in July 2011.

**This figure is based on over 30,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Amazon’s growth has largely been at the expense of specialists, including second-place HMV which has lost 0.8 percentage point of its market share since last year – opening up the gulf between the retailers to 4.8 percentage points.

Fiona Keenan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Amazon has grown its market share considerably since last year and now has a convincing lead over HMV, which has again seen year-on-year losses. The retailer will undoubtedly have been affected by its store closures; however, the trend of consumers switching spend online has also had an impact. However, HMV is not alone – supermarkets too are feeling the squeeze as Tesco dropped 1.7 percentage points and Asda 0.2 percentage point in the past year. Sainsbury’s is the notable exception to this rule, increasing its share of the market to 5.3% as a result of a strong focus on its video offer.”

Amazon now holds 21.4% of the entertainment market – with its success in audio-visual markets spurred by growth in digital music, and its overall business performance also benefitting from considerable growth in the sales of eBooks. iTunes has also been able to capitalise on the growth of digital music sales, increasing its market share by 2.8 percentage points.

GAME group has lost almost half of its market share over the past year, dropping from 10% to 5.2% – with both GAME and Gamestation sales dropping by 3.6 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points in the latest 12 weeks. This drop in share is the effect of store consolidation in the first quarter of this year.

* Published today for the 12 w/e 10 June 2012

The global research company, which launched its new British data hub Kantar.com today, interviewed 1,000 people on their favourite outlets, news consumption, predictions for the future and the effects of the Leveson Inquiry.

The most trusted broadcaster was the BBC which 58.9% of people said they believed, compared to just 1% of people who trusted what Channel 5 tells them. The Guardian and Observer were Britain’s most trusted papers followed by the Mail/Mail on Sunday and the Times/Sunday Times. The BBC emerged as central to Britain’s news consumption and a favourite across the categories.

BBC Breakfast was voted Britain's Favourite Morning TV News Show and, just a couple of weeks after he announced his departure from the station, the Chris Moyles Show was named Britain's Favourite Breakfast Radio News Show. Britain's Favourite Journalist was Jeremy Paxman, of Newsnight, and Britain's Least Favourite Journalist was Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror.The research also revealed a snapshot of British media opinions and habits. For example, more British people trust television stations to tell them the truth than newspapers.

Eight out of 10 people identified a broadcaster they trusted but fewer than six out of 10 could name a newspaper they believed in, the study found.

However, both television and newspapers were judged to be far more reliable sources of news than Twitter or Facebook, including for breaking news stories.

Other findings included:

1. Over 80% of 18- to 34-year-olds think they will be buying newspapers in five years’ time
2. Perhaps unsurprisingly, men prefer sports news and women prefer features and showbiz, but good news was what women wanted in a newspaper
3. More than half the people questioned said the Leveson Inquiry had reduced their trust in the media but almost 11% of the population did not know what it was
4. More than twice as many people preferred to read the headlines online (on iPad, mobile or PC) than in print
5. And almost four people in 10 had shared news items through Facebook.

Kantar.com is a free online portal that showcases all the best data on Britain held by Kantar and its subsidiary companies and is the first to offer journalists an instantly accessible database of deep statistics on public opinion, business, media and consumer issues.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Kantar.com is the home of live trends, facts and insights on the people of Britain delivered by world-leading research experts Kantar. It is the portal for all of the company’s data on a huge range of topics from across Britain.

The survey to determine the Kantar.com Media Awards winners was drawn from a nationally representative sample of 987 people in England, Scotland and Wales. There were 494 men and 493 women, grouped by age (18-34; 35-54; and 55-64). More data is available on request.

The winners of the awards were:

• Britain's Favourite Morning TV News Show: BBC Breakfast
• Britain's Favourite Breakfast Radio News Show: Radio One’s Chris Moyles Show
• Britain's Most Trusted Newspaper: The Guardian/The Observer
• Britain's Most Trusted Broadcaster: BBC
• Britain's Favourite Journalist: Jeremy Paxman
• Britain's Least Favourite Journalist: Piers Morgan

The winners will be announced via Kantar.com’s Twitter account @BritainSays on Friday 20th July 2012, which will continue to publish interesting daily snippets of information from Kantar’s research on British life.

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com

Contact

Media enquiries:
Fiona Mackie, Bell Pottinger Business & Brand fmackie@bell-pottinger.co.uk 020 7861 2486 / 07795 300739

Research enquiries:
Michelle Harrison: TNS-BMRB, michelle.harrison@tns-bmrb.co.uk
Andrew Curry: The Futures Company, andrew.curry@thefuturescompany.com
Ed Garner: Kantar Worldpanel, edward.garner@kantarworldpanel.com
Cristiana Pearson: Millward Brown, Cristiana.pearson@millwardbrown.com
Bryan Roberts: Kantar Retail, bryan.roberts@kantarretail.com
Ralph Risk: Lightspeed Research, rrisk@lightspeedresearch.com

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “We are seeing big cutbacks by consumers as they continue to respond to this current period of austerity. The success of the discounters, Aldi and Lidl, is a clear example of shoppers watching their purses, with both retailers continuing to surge ahead. Once again, they both achieve all-time record shares of 2.9% and remarkable growth of 26.1% for Aldi and 11.5% for Lidl. Similarly, although Waitrose is still growing at over double the rate of the whole market, this growth has fallen back to 4.8% from 7.5% last period − suggesting there are signs that the premium sector is beginning to slow.

“Another sign of austerity making an impact is the decline of the premium own label sector. Premium own-label products have been in continuous growth since 2008, despite often being more expensive than their brand equivalent. Now; however, they are declining by 6% year-on-year, while economy own labels such as Tesco’s Everyday Value are growing at 13%.”

Among the big four supermarkets, fortunes continue unchanged with market share growth for Asda and Sainsbury’s and share dips for Tesco and Morrisons.

Edward Garner adds: “Frozen food continues to be the top-growing food sector, as consumers look to reduce waste, and this has helped Iceland to continue the upward trend it has enjoyed since 2005.”

An update on inflation
Grocery inflation stands at 3.8%* for the 12 week period ending 8 July 2012. This continues the downward trend from the recent peak of 6.2% for November 2011 and reflects lower inflation for fresh produce and falling milk prices.

Dominic Sunnebo, consumer insight director, explains: “We are seeing much of the Android sales growth being driven by consumers trading up from feature phones to smartphones.  Android handsets currently offer an easier platform to enable these consumers to upgrade, as many first time smartphone consumers state ‘price of handset’ and ‘multimedia capabilities’ as their main reason for choosing an Android device.  Our data shows that Android has a higher share of those consumers spending under £50 on buying their handset across the vast majority of countries we cover.”

In markets like the UK, smartphone penetration in the prepay market is increasing, with Android handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace and Y performing well.  These models are attracting younger first time owners, a group who have traditionally been loyal to BlackBerry.

Dominic adds: “It’s important to understand the added value that these first time smartphone consumers bring to carriers and brands.  When consumers trade-up from a feature phone, they spend significantly more on their bills and on buying their device.  The increase in monthly bill becomes even more important to the carriers, when we consider that most mobile contracts have a 24 month minimum term.

“Smartphone consumers are much more loyal to their brand of handset and carrier than feature phone consumers, highlighting the importance of capturing feature phone owners when they are starting to look to change their handset.

“It’s also interesting to note that although Android’s share is high in the USA market, it has decreased by 6.8% points over the year. This trend contrasts Apple’s growth, which is a reflection of a successful iPhone 4S release and the first time availability of the iPhone 4 and 4S on Sprint.” 

* 12 w/e 10th June 2012

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The continued high cost of fuel and a weaker euro means that fewer shoppers are willing to travel to the north for their groceries and are instead looking for value at home. During the latest quarter only 8% of households in Ireland bought their groceries from Sainsbury’s or Asda in Northern Ireland – contrasting with 16% during the same period in 2009.”

Overall shopper spending remains subdued as a result of the tough economic climate, with the decline in total grocery sales accelerating from a fall of 0.2% last month to a further drop of 0.5% this month. The discounters continue to increase their combined market share – which now stands at almost 12% – as shoppers look for value. Aldi has recorded sales growth of just over 20% – bringing their total share to 5.3%, just 0.2% behind Superquinn. Lidl has also posted substantial growth and now has a 6.5% share for the first time.

David adds: “Tesco and SuperValu also continue to perform strongly, with sales growth of 2.8% and 1.1% respectively. Tesco has grown its share by managing to encourage its shoppers back through the doors more often; meanwhile SuperValu’s drive to recruit new customers to its stores seems to be working.”

Despite grocery sales coming under pressure, the ongoing Euro 2012 championship is boosting the sales of alcohol - with sales jumping by 4.4% over the past four weeks.

* For the 12 weeks ending 10 June 2012.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.6%** for the 12 week period ending 10 June 2012, up from 2.2% in the previous period but significantly below the 3.5% seen in November 2011.

**This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 10 June 2012, show the market growing at 3.2% with a dramatic jump to 11.3% in the run-up to the Diamond Jubilee (week ending 3 June 2012). This meant there was an extra £213 million in the tills that week.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The remarkable growth rate recorded over the Jubilee is a sign of what’s to come during the Olympics when we expect grocery sales to soar. Competition is likely to be fierce with fortunes now considerably different among the big four.

“Both Tesco and Morrisons suffer share dips of 0.4 points this month whereas Asda and Sainsbury’s have seen their shares strengthen. The two retailers have taken different paths to growth with Asda expanding its estate through its acquisition of the UK Netto stores and Sainsbury’s enjoying a long-term trend of organic growth as stores are added one-by-one. What both outlets have in common is strong price messages – Asda with its Price Guarantee and Sainsbury’s with its Brand Match – and this is supporting them well.”

The polarisation seen in recent months continues unabated with Aldi, Lidl, and Waitrose all holding on to all-time record shares – Aldi and Lidl both have 2.8% and Waitrose has 4.6%. All three outlets have successfully appealed to their respective shoppers who are now spending more in store.

Edward Garner continues: “Iceland is growing at nearly twice the market average lifting sales by 6.3% this period. This is largely a result of the buoyant frozen food market, which tends to do well during times of economic uncertainty, and is currently the fastest growing grocery sector.”

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, explains: “There was a period towards the start of this year where Android’s share began to flatline.  However, in the past few months, we have seen a surge in sales, particularly in Spain and Germany. 

“In Spain, recessionary pressures are clearly hitting consumers’ wallets –demonstrated by the budget Samsung Galaxy Mini topping the country’s sales charts.  In Germany, the economy is clearly in a very different place, however, its major networks offer very low subsidies on handset purchases making it one of the most expensive countries in Europe to buy a smartphone.  This means that smartphone penetration is the lowest throughout the major European economies.  As a result, brands such as Huawei, which sell low-end Android models, are now starting to make inroads with almost 200,000 Huawei smartphones sold in Germany this year.”

RIM’s share in the US remains under intense pressure, falling to 5.2% in the latest 12 weeks, down from 9.2% a year ago.  In Europe, RIM fairs better but continues to experience an intense competitive environment. 

Dominic Sunnebo continues: “A year ago, RIM sales in the big five European countries were similar to that of the US.   However, over the past 12 months there has been a paradigm shift with European RIM sales now around double that of RIM in its US stronghold – this is historically down to geographic reasons with BlackBerry being founded in Canada.”

WP7 now holds over 3% share in most major markets, with its share highest in Germany and the US.  Although the majority of WP7 customers in the US are first time smartphone owners, a significant proportion are also upgrading from previous generation WinMobile devices. 

Sunnebo comments: “Our data clearly shows that in the US, LTE/4G handset capability is crucial for brands wanting to steal existing smartphone consumers.  As WP7 handsets with this capability start to become more prevalent, we expect to see signs of Android, RIM and iOS customers switching to the Microsoft platform. 

* 12 w/e 13th May 2012

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Retailers’ own brands continue to appeal to shoppers in the face of depressed household incomes, growing at 2.3% year on year, as shoppers focus on saving rather than spending. Sales of branded goods have dropped over the past year and now account for 53% of the market, down from 54.1% last year. In contrast, we are seeing own label products thriving for retailers like Tesco, SuperValu, Aldi and Lidl.

“Among the retailers this month Aldi, Tesco, SuperValu and Lidl have all grown faster than the market, placing increasing pressure on their competitors. Aldi’s growth of 20.1% has led to a record share for the retailer this month, breaking through the 5% mark to 5.2% and further demonstrating the importance of price to consumers. Tesco has also posted a new record share this month of 28.4%, increasing from the 27.4% it posted in the same period last year and solidifying its number one status in Ireland.”

SuperValu continues to perform well following the launch of its SuperValu range. As a result, its market share has increased by 0.4 points to 19.8% following a tough trading period this time last year.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 2.2%* for the 12 week period ending 13 May 2012, up from 1.8% in the previous period but significantly below the 3.5% seen in November 2011.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 13 May 2012, show the market growing at 3.1%. This is a sharp decrease on the 5.0% growth reported last period. What’s more, in the four weeks ending 13 May 2012, the grocery market has actually declined by 1.0%.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “On the face of it, the declines in market growth might seem alarming but there are exceptional factors. Easter and the Royal Wedding helped year-on-year growth soar to a remarkable 7.6% in the four weeks leading up to May 15 2011 – a hint of what’s to come over the Jubilee weekend. Comparing the current figures with the same period two years ago, the four week growth stands at 6.5%. This is actually in line with long-term trends and shows 2011 as the anomaly.”

Against this backdrop, the retailers might expect to record depressed growth however Aldi tells a different story. The retailer has posted growth of 25.4% to achieve a share of 2.8% – another all-time record. Lidl also holds on to its record 2.8% share from last period with 11.3% growth and Waitrose continues to outpace the market with 7.0% growth.

Edward continues: “The ongoing strong performances of Aldi and Lidl have led some commentators to believe that consumers are deserting conventional stores for the discount sector. However, a more realistic picture of shopper behaviour shows that many consumers are continuing to do their main shopping trip in their usual store, but spending the remainder of their household budget on the discounters.”

Among the big four, Sainsbury’s holds on to its share while Tesco and Morrisons continue to feel the pressure. Asda remains strong with 6.5% growth, reflecting the addition of Netto stores. The stubbornly high level of food price inflation means that shoppers continue to feel the squeeze on their household budgets.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.1%* for the 12 week period ending 13 May 2012. This is a decrease from the level of 5.5% last period but remains above the market growth meaning that households are still trying to rein in grocery spending by managing down their ‘personal inflation’.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows Android retained its number one position in the latest 12 weeks*, with 50.1% share, up from 44.6% a year ago. HTC and Samsung are dominating Android handset market sales, holding 86% share between them.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, explains: “With less than one week of sales, the HTC One X is already one of Britain’s 10 best-selling smartphones over this period. The release of the Sony Xperia S and the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S3 have also added to a surge of interest from consumers looking for their next upgrade.

“We are likely to see some big changes in manufacturer shares over the coming months. Particularly as we expect to see almost 22 million consumers aged 13+ changing their mobile device in the next year, with almost 80% of these consumers buying a smartphone.”

Despite the release of the Xperia S, Sony’s share continues to dwindle taking just 10.4% of Android sales in the past 12 weeks while LG holds less than 1%. Both manufacturers have struggled to convince their existing featurephone consumers to switch to their new smartphone ranges – only 11% of Sony featurephone users traded up to one of its smartphones over the past year and this figure is even lower for LG at just 4%.

Dominic continues: “With smartphone penetration in the UK at 53.1%, the pool of featurephone users left to trade up is beginning to diminish. This means that smartphone manufacturers need to step up their game and find ways of stealing consumers from their competitors – something that usually proves harder than convincing existing customers to trade up from featurephone to smartphone.

“Rich new content and features are a big driver for consumers looking to trade up. However, convincing users to switch brands requires an emphasis on the user experience – an area in which Apple excels. Consumers have come to expect top-end hardware and manufacturers are responding with innovative software, good services and exclusive content partnerships. These expectations from tech-savvy customers are yet another obstacle for Asian manufacturers, such as Huawei and ZTE, who will attempt to make a splash by releasing high-end models in the coming months.”

Around the world

Android’s stronghold is now becoming more prevalent across Europe, particularly in Spain where it holds 72.3% of the market with year-on-year growth of 39.5%. It has also seen phenomenal growth in Italy and Germany with respective growth rates of 29.3% and 27.2%.

* 12 w/e 15th April 2012

Craig Armer, Consumer Research Manager at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The retail sector had a rocky start to 2012 with the bad weather taking its toll on retail footfall. This industry-wide trend has affected spend on entertainment products with sales down by 14.8% compared with the same period last year. The games market is the driving force here and has seen one million fewer buyers than it did twelve months ago.

“Although we won’t see the effects of GAME’s closures until next quarter, its 1% fall in share from last year may be a result of an alleged supply issue with publishers, which led to the retailer’s inability to stock key titles such as Mass Effect 3.”

Amazon is the top performer, increasing its share by 2.7% compared with the same period last year. Although it didn’t perform as well as last period, the retailer is very strong in gifting meaning that it always excels in the run up to Christmas when gift purchasing makes up almost half (49%) of total entertainment spend. HMV has also put in a good performance, growing its share by 1.7% in the past twelve weeks.

Craig continues: “Now in the top five entertainment retailers, iTunes has seen a 2.3% rise on last year. Digital music is becoming more favorable among consumers and iTunes continues to dominate the market despite increased competition from Amazon. Its position was strengthened this quarter with strong sales of Lana Del Ray’s newly released album Born To Die. Adele’s 21 also saw another boost in sales following her recent success at the Brits.”

* Published today for the 12 w/e 18 March 2012

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The discounters and Waitrose are outperforming the middle ground as shoppers polarise their spend. To this effect, Aldi and Lidl continue their strong run and both achieve record shares this period. Iceland’s growth rate of 9.1% is also racing ahead of the market – further proof that consumers are convinced by strong value-for-money messages.

“Waitrose sees no slowdown in its growth as some households refuse to let economic pressures affect their food purchasing. This may also be a result of cutbacks on eating out which have meant that some shoppers are willing to spend more money on bringing the dining out experience into the home. The continued growth of premium own-labels, particularly Tesco Finest and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference, is further evidence of this behaviour.”

Among the big four, Asda sees the biggest growth following its Netto conversions. However, if this effect is excluded, Sainsbury’s leads the field with growth just ahead of the market at 5.3%. Both Tesco and Morrisons lag behind the market and see their shares drop by 0.2 points compared with last year. However, in the case of Tesco, this is less than the declines seen earlier this year.

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows Android retained its number one OS position in the latest 12 weeks*, now holding 50% share, up from 42.2% a year ago. Apple continues to make strong gains, increasing its share by 9.5% over the past year to 29.2%.

Apple also remains the largest smartphone manufacturer; however, Samsung is rapidly closing in, now just 1% behind in the latest period with 28.1% share.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, comments: “It is common to assume that smartphone growth is being driven by a young tech-savvy generation; however, our latest data shows that more than one in two mobiles bought by over 50s in the past 12 weeks were smartphones.”

With almost 20 million mobile owners over the age of 50 in Great Britain, there is a clear business opportunity for manufacturers and operators. Traditionally a Nokia stronghold, it is Samsung and Apple who are making the most of this market, now accounting for 36.6% and 23.4% of 50+ smartphone sales, compared with 6.2% from Nokia.

Sunnebo comments: “The keenly-priced Samsung Galaxy Ace is the top-selling handset in this group. This fits with our analysis showing that ‘cost of handset’ is the top stated reason for handset choice in the over 50s category. Given the relative price sensitivity of this consumer group, we would expect to see Asian manufacturers such as ZTE and Huawei start to make big inroads in this market during 2012.”

Smartphone use by over 50s tends to be based around ‘core’ functions, with 63% browsing the internet, 57% using email and 52% downloading apps. Social networking (34%), instant messenger (17%) and downloading/streaming videos (18%) are areas which prove less attractive to this group compared with their younger counterparts.

Sunnebo explains: “As internet connectivity becomes ever more integral to consumers lives, regardless of age, so the desire for mobile internet increases. Our data tends to show that over 50s mobile use replicates much of what they do at home on their PC or laptop. In contrast, under 50s tend to use their phones and computers for different purposes.”

In Great Britain smartphones made up 74.4% of sales over the 12 weeks, meaning that 52.2% of the British population now owns a smartphone.

* 12 w/e 18th March 2012

The latest data shows that the sector has fallen in value by 0.5% when compared with the same period last year.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “For the past year any growth in the grocery market has been driven by price inflation, which has been running at an average rate of 3.8%. As competition between the main retailers has continued the level of inflation has dropped back over the past four months, with the latest figures showing price inflation of just 1.9%. Although a lower rate of price inflation is good news for shoppers, there is no immediate sign that this is changing their current shopping behaviour.”

Shoppers are continuing to look for ways to control their spending. Trading down to cheaper products remains the best way of achieving this, with shoppers increasingly buying retailer own label goods. This has placed pressure on branded items, which have seen a drop in market share from 54.1% to 52.9% in the past year.

“Among the major retailers, the most noticeable change this month is a strengthened performance from SuperValu, lifting its share from 19.7% to 20%. This coincides with the launch of its comprehensive ‘SuperValu’ own brand range – suggesting this was a good move by the retailer.”

Elsewhere, Aldi continues to post the strongest growth, with sales increasing by just over 20%. Tesco and Lidl also continue to out-perform the market and gain share as a result.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 1.9% for the 12 weeks ending 18th March 2012.

The value of the professional beauty treatments market has grown by 17% over the past year* as British consumers prove you can’t put a price on looking good.

In the current economic climate, shoppers have been forced to make cutbacks and rein in their spending. However, the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel shows that consumers are unwilling to sacrifice their looks as the beauty treatments market thrives.

Tim Nancholas, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The professional beauty treatments market is now worth an astonishing £1.8 billion and has seen year-on-year growth of 17%. This is a phenomenal growth rate, powerfully demonstrating the increasing importance of this sector to our economy.

“Consumers are evidently crying out for beauty treatments so it’s clear to see why more high street retailers are moving into this market. All-over packages such as a facial, massage and manicure for a set price have seen a 35% increase in sales in the past year. Similarly, women have spent almost a third more on tanning treatments and 22% more on getting their nails done.

“Despite the economic doom and gloom, consumers are still willing to splash out in order to look good and feel good. Although many shoppers are making cutbacks, beauty treatments are an affordable treat in comparison to other big ticket items.

“The speed at which this market is growing shows its enormous potential and the need to recognise beauty salons, tanning shops and nail bars as serious, lucrative businesses. It’s also a sector where independents dominate, with beauty salons making up over 52% of the market – a positive for those worried about ‘clone’ high streets.”

*52 w/e 19 February 2012

Scottish shoppers spent over £760 million on fruit and vegetables in the past year, an increase of 2.5% on the previous year.  Scottish shoppers spent an extra £6.40 on fresh fruit and vegetables in a year, compared with only an additional £4.70 for the average British shopper.   

Mark Thomson, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “We are seeing more demand for fruit and vegetables across Scotland, as health has become an increasingly important motive when shoppers go back into their homes and decide what to eat.  19.2% of consumers in Scotland said that health was a primary reason for selecting the foods that they consume - an increase from 17% in 2008. However, in England and Wales the health factor has fallen from 22.9% in 2008 to 21.5% in 2011, albeit still ahead.” 

Children are leading the way in the health resurgence, with 11 million extra servings of vegetables consumed by Scottish kids over 2011.  Fruit is also becoming more popular, with 23% of Scottish kids now eating fruit like apples, oranges and pears because they are becoming more of a ‘favourite’ item. 

Mark continues: “The Scottish Government will be pleased that children are now eating more fruit and vegetables, particularly after its big push through the Schools Act of 2007 to promote healthy eating.”  

It’s not just the kids getting healthy. Scottish consumers are now more likely to cook from scratch than people in England and Wales. 12.7% of all meals are prepared from scratch in Scotland, compared with 11.1% in the rest of Great Britain.  Organic is also proving popular, with Scottish shoppers 9% more likely to agree to buying organic products than shoppers across Britain.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The findings make particularly good reading for Asda. Its 17.9% share is an all-time record performance and its year-on-year growth rate of 7.8% is leading the big four, largely thanks to the full integration of its Netto stores.

“Elsewhere, Tesco’s growth rate of 2.7% still lags behind the market and results in a drop in share. However, it is an improvement on the growth rates seen so far this year. Both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons’ shares remain unchanged from the same period last year.”

Waitrose, Aldi* and Lidl continue to out-perform the market, particularly so in the case of Aldi with year-on-year growth of 28.5%.

Edward adds: “The frozen food market remains buoyant and this has helped Iceland to enjoy 10.2% growth – good news for the new consortium owning the chain.”

*Please see the notes to editors below for details on changes to Kantar Worldpanel’s sample affecting Aldi’s share

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.5%* for the 12 week period ending 18 March 2012. This is unchanged from the previous report. This remains above the market growth of 4.0% this period and means that households are still trying to rein in grocery spending by managing down their ‘personal inflation’

Nokia and Microsoft’s push behind Windows Phone 7 (WP7) has started to pay dividends as sales edge ahead of Symbian in Great Britain in latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech*.

The much hyped Nokia Lumia 800 took 87% of WP7 sales, giving it a 2% uplift in share compared with a year ago. Germany remains the strongest market for WP7, with share now up to 3.1%.

The latest data also shows that Apple has increased its share of the British smartphone market from 22.7% a year ago to 28.7%. However, Android remains the number one OS in Britain, with its share up to 48.5% from 37.8% a year ago.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, comments: “There are strong signs that WP7 Nokia handsets are starting to make an impact on the European smartphone market though US sales, where the Nokia brand is weaker, remain underwhelming. The fact that WP7 sales have overtaken Symbian based on one handset is encouraging; however, Nokia will need to expand the range quickly in order to keep up with the slew of next generation competitor products being launched in quarter two.”

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech data also highlights that consumers are increasingly satisfied with their handsets. When asked how satisfied consumers were with their smartphone (where one is very unsatisfied and 10 very satisfied) the average smartphone score was 7.9; notably higher than those with a non-smartphone at 6.9.

Apple has the most satisfied customers with a score of 8.8, with Samsung in second place at 8.0 and HTC in third with 7.6. Likewise, when consumers were asked how likely they are to stick with the same brand when upgrading, Apple ranked top followed by Samsung and HTC.

Sunnebo explains: “Smartphone users are typically very happy with their handsets and this is because they can do so much more with them. When you look at the way consumers are using their mobiles compared with just a year ago, the change is huge. For example, just under half of people in the past four weeks used GPS or maps on their smartphones, this compares to only 33.9% a year ago. Similarly, 39.2% of people are now downloading or streaming videos to their mobiles, this has increased from 10.6% a year ago. All this helps to engrain the smartphone experience deep into consumer’s daily routines and the quality of devices available mean consumers have found little to complain about.”

In Great Britain smartphones made up 73.2% of sales over the 12 weeks, meaning that 51.3% of the British population now owns a smartphone.

* 12 w/e 19th February 2012

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The growth rate remains lower than grocery price inflation, currently at 2.3%, highlighting the ongoing pressure on household budgets. Shoppers are adopting a ‘little and often’ approach to their grocery shopping with the number of times we visit the shops rising by 6% but the amount we spend on each trip falling by an average €1.40 per trip. This allows shoppers to control their spending by only buying what they need when they need it.

“Tesco continues to post strong results, increasing its market share to 28.1% this period, up from 27.3% last year. Despite its challenges elsewhere, Tesco has outperformed the market this month. It’s now feeling the benefit of having extra stores, giving more shoppers a chance to go through its doors and as a result is leading the big three supermarkets.”

Aldi’s growth remains ahead of the competition, with sales increasing by 25% this year, lifting its share of the market to 4.5%. This growth has been achieved by a healthy combination of getting more people to shop and encouraging them to return more often.

Elsewhere, SuperValu and Dunnes perform in line with the market, with sales and market share both broadly stable.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 2.3% for the 12 weeks ending 19th February 2012.

The company, which specialises in consumer insights and has the largest continuous panel in Great Britain, was listed 80th - rising 19 places since its first inclusion in 2011.

Tim Kidd, managing director at Kantar Worldpanel UK, Ireland and USA, comments: “This recognition is a great achievement. It reflects the exceptionally positive engagement of our employees and also helps in our ambition to be a ‘go to’ employer.

“The wider economy remains challenging and now, more than ever, providers of market research and insight need to deliver high quality consultancy expertise to clients. We can only do this is by attracting and retaining the best people and creating an environment in which they can flourish.

“Our industry is no longer just about providing the data. Clients need analysis, interpretation and strategic guidance to help them grow their business. This requires good people. We have been working hard to make our company a place people really want to work and we’re pleased to see we’re succeeding.

“It is rewarding to be one of a very small group of market research agencies included in the list. Given that we are – or should be – a fundamentally people-driven industry we need to continue to do more to make sure market research is an attractive career. Being classed as one of the best places to work is a real boost.”

Key to Kantar Worldpanel’s success in this year’s list was the level of trust it places in its employees to make the right decisions for clients and the business as a whole – something extremely valued by its employees. Areas in which Kantar Worldpanel also scored highly were its rewards for merit and good performance and the training and support it provides to employees throughout their careers

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “While the growth rate remains lower than grocery price inflation, currently at 5.5%, the gap between the two measures is narrowing – meaning pressure on household budgets, while still strong, is not getting any worse.

“Tesco’s market share remains under pressure and now stands at 29.7% − a level we last saw in May 2005 – as it faces stiff competition from its rivals. By contrast, the completion of its Netto conversions helped Asda retain its record share of 17.5% that we reported last month.

“Waitrose saw its share rise this month to 4.5% − an all-time record for the retailer. Its continuing strong performance shows that it is a mistake to talk about the ‘average’ UK shopper. Some consumers clearly value good service and instore experience when shopping, which Waitrose claims to provide. The retailer has also benefitted from increasing numbers of shoppers, as its store expansion makes its shops accessible to more people.”

At the same time, the ‘Two Nations’ phenomenon continues as value for money remains paramount for many shoppers, with Aldi, Lidl and Iceland all enjoying double-digit growth as they hold on to record shares.

Sainsbury’s continued to out-perform the market in 2012 and lifts its share from 16.5% to 16.6%. Elsewhere, Morrisons dips slightly by 0.1% to 12.2%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.5%* for the 12 week period ending 19 February 2012. This is the third successive decrease from the recent peak of 6.2% we reported for November last year and we expect to see further decreases during 2012.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, comments: “For the first time ever, you are now in the minority if you don’t own a smartphone. With more people jumping on the bandwagon, there is huge opportunity for both retailers and manufacturers. However, the competition is intense.

“Android holds on to its lead but Apple is making inroads, increasing its share of the British market from 21.7% a year ago to 29.1% now. Windows Phone 7 is also creeping up, taking over 2% of the market for the first time with the Nokia Lumia 800 taking the lion’s share. This looks set to continue with the expected launch of at least two new models at the Mobile World Congress conference. We forecast this will help it to grow its share to around 8% in the latter half of 2012.”

Symbian’s share has fallen to just 2.8%, highlighting the stark challenge Nokia faces as it makes the transition from Symbian to Windows Phone 7. However, it seems that the Lumia 800 release has helped Nokia to maintain its customer loyalty, albeit at a slower rate than it might wish for, with over a quarter of Windows Phone 7 customers having owned Symbian handsets in the past.

Dominic Sunnebo continues: “One of the real positives for Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is how engaged its users appear to be with its devices. Eighty one per cent of handset owners have used social networking on their device in the past month, higher than both iOS & Android. Meanwhile, three quarters have used GPS, indicating that its decision to include Nokia maps for free was a price worth paying to drive user engagement.”

It’s a slightly different story in the US with Apple continuing to make gains on Android. Apple now has 48.4% of the US market compared with Android’s 42.6%.

Dominic explains: “The jump we saw in Apple’s share last period was clearly not just a blip caused by the iPhone 4S release. Although the majority of growth is coming from the new handset, Apple’s latest pricing structure is also working in its favour with no discernable drop in sales of older iPhone 4 and 3GS models.”

Nowhere does the concept of a divided Britain ring more true than on the high street, with the haves and have nots becoming increasingly apparent in the lives of British consumers.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Two nations of shoppers have emerged within the grocery market. We only have to look at the strong performances of hard discounters Aldi and Lidl who have seen a 9% year-on-year increase while, at the other end of the price scale, Waitrose has achieved growth of 8%. The combined growth rate of these three retailers is almost triple that of the big four supermarkets, as shoppers move away from the middle ground and polarise their spend between the discounters and the premium grocers.

“Some consumers prioritise value for money while others have come to the conclusion that there is more to life than the cheapest food – this is confirmed by the growth of both budget and premium own label products. Sainsbury’s, for example, has grown its own label budget range by 10%. However, it has also increased sales of its premium label ‘taste the difference’ range by 12%.”

The ‘Two nations’ phenomenon is also being seen within the alcohol market with premium alcohol brands increasing in popularity. The top five world beer brands have seen huge growth of 20.1% in the past year – this is despite total lager volume sales being down 5.7% year-on-year.

There is further divergence in shopper behaviour within the beauty market – with prestige brands showing rapid growth despite cutbacks being made in the standard part of the market.

Edward continues: “Prestige skincare brands, such as Clarins, have grown by 9% year-on-year and prestige cosmetics by 7%. The value of professional beauty treatments has also grown by an astonishing 18%. Although some shoppers can afford to splash out on themselves, it is a different story on the other side of the high street, as consumers find new ways to make savings in their beauty routines. Since the recession, 10% of women have shifted from a complex personal care regime to a simpler one, cutting back on products such as mouth wash, eye cream and body fragrance – all of which are not deemed vital. Instead, we are seeing the growth of ‘combination products’ which can be used for more than one purpose – such as day and night face cream – while specialised products such as anti aging creams have taken a hit. Men are also being more sparing with their products, using two blades fewer per year for shaving than they did in 2008.”

The recession may have led us to believe that we are all in it together but the high street tells us a very different story

Amazon has grown its share of the market from 19.4% a year ago to 22.4% and has seen growth across all categories – music, video and games. It looks set to continue its strong run in 2012.

Fiona Keenan, Consumer Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Amazon’s strong performance is down to a number of factors: it is typically really competitive on price, has a wide range of products with no restriction on display space, and is known for its very good customer service.”

The value of the home entertainment market fell by just under 4% compared with the same period last year, although this decline was lower than the 8% drop we saw in the run up to Christmas in 2010.

Fiona adds: “Despite Christmas being a popular time for shoppers to buy DVDs, games and music, spending was down on the same period last year. We saw a lot of retailers, particularly supermarkets, promoting savings on big releases like ‘Harry Potter’ when shoppers spent money elsewhere in store and this will have taken some value out of the market. The number of people buying items in the home entertainment market also declined this year.”

HMV conceded its top spot to Amazon, dropping its overall market share from 19.6% to 17.5%, as the retailer lost ground in both the video and music markets. The majority of this decline came through reduced sales in its high street stores, with the online arm of the business only falling slightly.

There were mixed performances for the grocers in this sector, with both Asda and Morrisons losing share. However, the top four supermarkets all feature in the leading 10 retailers.

* Published today for the 12 w/e 25 December 2011

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Tesco is setting the pace among the big three grocery retailers in Ireland, posting growth of 2.8% and lifting its share from 27.5% a year ago to 28.2% now. This record high, which has been driven by the opening of new stores, is particularly pleasing for the retailer considering its recent drop in share of the British market. Customers now have more opportunities to shop with the company and this has helped the growth of Tesco’s share in the market.”

Dunnes and SuperValu both continue to perform ahead of the market, seeing a slight increase in share to 23.4% and 20.1% respectively.

David continues: “Elsewhere, Aldi continues to post the highest growth rate among all retailers with sales growth of 26.2%. This is the 15th consecutive period that Aldi has grown by more than 20% showing that shoppers remain convinced by its good value offerings.”

The gap between market growth and the 3.3% food inflation rate indicates that shoppers are continuing to cut back.

David explains: “Consumers are managing their budgets by shopping more frequently but buying less per trip. The cost of the average shopping basket is now down to just €23.61 from €24.78 for the same period last year.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 3.3% for the 12 week ending period 22 January 2012, down from 3.4% in the previous period.

The grocery market is growing at 4.2% per year which remains below the food inflation rate as shoppers continue to seek value for money.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “There were mixed fortunes among the big four supermarkets this month. The completion of the Netto conversion has led to an all-time record performance for Asda, lifting its share from 16.9% a year ago to 17.5% now. Sainsbury’s has also grown its share to 16.7%, consolidating its strongest hold of the market since March 2003.

“In contrast, there is considerable pressure on Tesco, with its growth rate of 2.1% only half the total market average. This has caused its share to fall by 0.6 percentage points.

“Iceland’s 2.1% share is at its highest for 10 years as shoppers continue to manage down their spending. With bids for the chain closing today, these figures are promising for potential buyers and show the importance of a good value-for-money message in today’s grocery market.”

Elsewhere, Aldi and Lidl continue their strong run, both increasing their shares to 3.5% and 2.5% respectively. However, the disappearance of Netto means that the size of the total discount sector is relatively unchanged at 6%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.7%* for the 12 week period ending 22 January 2012. This is another decrease from the recent peak of 6.2% we reported for November last year and we expect to see further decreases during 2012.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, explains: “Apple has continued its strong sales run in the US, UK and Australia over the Christmas period. Overall, Apple sales are now growing at a faster rate than Android across the nine countries we cover.”

Windows 7 is yet to break past a 2% share in any country despite the media attention gained by the new Nokia Lumia range. The Nokia Lumia 800 finished quarter four just outside of the top 10 smartphones sold in Great Britain.

Dominic continues: “BlackBerry remains the brand of choice in the smartphone gifting market, 57% of BlackBerrys were purchased as gifts in quarter four. This rose to 76% during December and a whopping 55% of recipients were under 16, indicating BlackBerry’s hold on the UK youth market.”

Looking at Latin America, it is clear that Android is starting to make a big impact. Although the smartphone market is still in its infancy, Android took a 28% share in Brazil and 20% in Mexico.

Dominic Sunnebo comments: “Brazil and Mexico have a combined population of over 300 million, meaning that the mobile opportunity is huge. By staking an early claim on the smartphone market in these countries, Android is laying important groundwork for future sales from the increasingly affluent middle classes. Over the next few years, Asian manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE are likely to focus smartphone sales on these regions. Their ability to offer prices under $100 will be crucial to their success.”

In Great Britain, smartphones made up 70.7% of sales over the 12 weeks, meaning that 48.9% of the British population now own a smartphone.

When considering a brands performance, it is important to bear in mind that all countries covered in the survey are experiencing strong Smartphone growth, meaning a share decline does not necessarily correspond to a drop in actual sales.  

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The big three’s battle for market share has resonated well with shoppers with each retailer performing ahead of the market. Tesco saw sales growth of 3.6%, helping it grow its market share from 27.2% to 28%. Dunnes also saw an increase in share from 23.5% to 24%. SuperValu maintained its recent positive performance with 1.2% growth, keeping it just ahead of the market and nudging its share to 19.9%.”

Aldi continues to post the strongest performance of all the retailers with sales growth increasing to 27.2%. This resulted in an impressive 0.9 point increase in share to 4.5%. Lidl’s performance remains ahead of the market with a growth rate of 1.6%.

David continues: “The German discounters have put in a record performance over the Christmas period with their combined share moving above 10% for the first time.

“Behind these figures, Kantar is also seeing some key changes in the way that people are shopping. Consumers are now exerting more control on how much they spend by making more shopping trips but having smaller sized baskets. There has also been a move to private label products, which have seen growth of 5%, while branded goods sales have declined by 1%.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 3.4% for the 12 week ending period 25 December 2011, down from 3.7% in the previous period.

Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel explains: “We continue to see a price war as the big four battle for market share. Tesco’s Big Price Drop has had an aggressive response from its competitors and put pressure on its share, which has slipped from 30.5% a year ago to 30.1%. In contrast, Asda has seen a strong year-on-year performance with its share up from 16.8% to 17.2%. This is in part thanks to the conversion of Netto stores which it acquired earlier in the year.

“Sainsbury’s has also enjoyed a positive year-end performance with its Brand Price Match helping the retailer to grow its share to 16.7%. This is the highest share we have reported for Sainsbury’s since March 2003. Morrisons also achieved growth just ahead of the market and held share as a result.”

Elsewhere, the ‘Two Nations’ divide remains a prevalent feature of the grocery market with Iceland, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose all performing strongly. The performance of the discounters was bolstered by some Netto shoppers turning to their stores.

Edward continues: “Behind these topline numbers, there is now strong evidence that households are shopping around more. Nearly all retailers can claim to have more shoppers, who are making more trips than last year. However, basket sizes are now smaller – a classic response to tight household budgets.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.9%* for the 12 week period ending 25 December 2011. This is a decrease on the 6.2% we reported last period.

Tesco is the only retailer among the big four to see its share slip - from 30.7% a year ago to 30.5% - and its growth rate of 3.8% has also fallen behind that of the market.

Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel explains: “This may at first seem disappointing for Tesco given the ‘Big Price Drop’ initiative; however, it is not wholly unexpected. With more products available for less, the amount of cash taken at the tills has understandably dropped. Despite this, Tesco has successfully attracted more shoppers to its stores through the promotion. This strategy, coined ‘self imposed deflation’ by Tesco, is something we have seen in the past and it’s clear that Tesco is using this method again to help shoppers save their pennies.”

Morrisons continues its positive run, seeing year-on-year share uplift from 12.0% to 12.1%. Asda has also posted its strongest growth since December 2009 as the integration of the UK Netto stores is completed.

Edward adds: “Aldi and Lidl continue to enjoy strong growth helped by some discount shoppers migrating from Netto. However, this growth is below the record levels seen earlier this year and the total hard discount sector has slipped back to 6.0% from 6.2% a year ago.

“Waitrose seems to be immune from economic gloom with prospects of a record Christmas likely, as a result of its traditional seasonal uplift.”

The frozen food revival continues to buoy up Iceland’s performance with year-on-year growth of 11%.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 6.2%* for the 12 week period ending 27 November 2011. This is a marginal increase on the 6.1% reported last period and continues the rising trend we have seen throughout 2011. However, it is our view that it has now peaked and will decline going into 2012.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 30 October 2011, show the grocery market growing at 4.6% per year. However, this remains below the inflation rate of 6.1%, as households try to manage down their spending - a dominant trend for most of 2011.

Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “It comes as no surprise that, as shoppers try to control their budgets, an aggressive stance on price is driving retailer communication strategies. We have ‘The Big Price Drop’ from Tesco, ‘The Price Guarantee’ from Asda, ‘Brand Match’ from Sainsbury’s and ‘Price Crunch’ from Morrisons. The end result would appear to be a zero-sum game, as the performances from the big four show only marginal differences this period, with no outright winner.”

All top four retailers posted respectable performances this period. Asda stands out with its growth rate of 5.1% beating market growth for the first time since the beginning of 2010.

The discounters continue their strong run, particularly Aldi with year-on-year growth of 18.8% and an increase of its share from 2.3% to 2.6%. However there are now signs of a slackening of pace as shares and growth rates for both Aldi and Lidl have fallen back from recent peaks.

The economic climate is favouring the value-for-money offering from frozen foods and Iceland has posted growth of 11.6% - the highest since the 2008/9 recession.

Edward continues: “Given the universal emphasis on price across the sector, the big four retailers will need to differentiate themselves. Own-label brands are an obvious way of doing this. We are already seeing double-digit growth for Tesco Finest and substantial revamps for own-label ranges at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – suggesting this might be a key battleground going forward.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 6.1%* for the 12 week period ending 30 October 2011. This is an increase on the 5.7% reported last period and continues the rising trend we have seen throughout 2011. However, this remains well below the levels of over 9% we saw during the 2008 recession and it is our view that it is now close to its peak and will decline going into 2012.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest grocery market figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 4 September 2011, show the market in value decline for the first time since August 2010.

The latest data shows that the grocery market has fallen in value by 0.5% when compared to the same period last year. Price inflation has also fallen from 4.4% last period to 2.5%.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “One of the most notable trends emerging this month is a clear gap between the performance of the multiple retailers and the convenience & specialist channels. Each of the major retailers have placed further emphasis on the value they offer in store and this, combined with a ‘Back To School’ push, has succeeded in switching sales away from smaller outlets.”

Tesco continues to cement its position as market leader, growing ahead of the market and maintaining a five share point lead over Dunnes Stores. Aldi & Lidl persist in making significant inroads into the market with growth of 25% and 7% respectively.

David Berry continues: “Aldi’s strong growth derives from being the only retailer to perform positively in all areas – it has more customers and these customers are shopping more often and spending more each visit. Aldi recently announced its intention to open six new outlets before the end of the year meaning that this trend is likely to continue, as more shoppers become within reach of an Aldi store.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 2.5% for the 12 week ending period 4 September 2011, down from 4.4% in the previous period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

As Fashion Week comes to the capital, the latest retail figures from Kantar Worldpanel show that runway trends won’t be hanging in wardrobes anytime soon. Increases in clothes prices are making it harder for shoppers to keep up with the latest fashions and wallets are being kept firmly shut.

Figures show that sales growth in the fashion market remained solid at 1% over the past 12 weeks. However, with average prices rising by 6% over the same period, it is clear inflation is affecting the market as volumes fall.

Ian Mitchell, insight director at Kantar Worldpanel explains: “The number of fashion items sold across the whole sector has not increased year-on-year since January 2009, the same month that theUKentered recession. The economic downturn has certainly affected shoppers’ behaviour – fashion items are more expensive than they used to be so people can no longer afford to go on big shopping sprees and are buying less.”

With tightening wallets customers are also becoming less adventurous and sticking to the big names on the high street. Independent fashion retailers continue to suffer, with a 0.6% drop in market share taking their overall presence in the market to just 3.6%.

Ian continues: “The online fashion market continues to grow at a healthy 8% but this is significantly slower than the 26% we saw in the same period last year. 2011 growth is driven by the high-profile launches of several high street brands online; however it’s likely that online growth will stall even further once they are fully established.”

Martin Whittingham, director at Kantar Worldpanel explains: “The grocery market continues to deliver solid growth helped by inflation. Consumers are managing their budget by making more shopping trips but buying fewer items on each outing. These changes are at the margin but illustrate how shoppers are trying to cope with the increasing pressures on their household budget.”

Morrisons has once again achieved the strongest growth of the big four, but Sainsbury’s is close behind with both retailers ahead of market growth. As a consequence, they have both gained market share year on year.

Martin continues: “The hard discounters of Aldi and Lidl continue to maintain their double digit growth with a collective 6.0% share of the grocery market. Waitrose, on the other end of the price scale, has achieved growth for the fifth consecutive period in the range 8 to 9% showing that the ‘two nations’ split remains an ongoing theme.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.3%* for the 12 period week ending 4th September 2011. This is an increase on the 5.2% reported last period. However, this remains well below the levels of over 9% we saw during the 2008 recession.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest data shows that the grocery market growth rate is now at 0.0%, when compared to the same period last year, with no value growth in the market for the first time in 12 months despite continued price increases. Shoppers are now paying 4.4% more for general groceries compared to last year, with ambient groceries increasing in price by over 9%.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Shoppers have tried to offset the price rises by seeking out more value products and sticking to tighter budgets this month. As a result we have seen more trading down to discount outlets and increased sales of cheaper products.

“Two areas benefitting from this are retailer own brand labels and the discounters. Sales of own brand products have increased by 6%, while branded goods have fallen in value by 3%. While the discounters have posted an even stronger performance this month, with respective sales growth of 25% and 6% for Aldi and Lidl, pushing their combined market share up to 10.7%.”

Elsewhere, Tesco continued to cement its position in the market with sales growth of 1.7%, increasing its share of the market by half a point to 27.9%. Tesco’s lead in the market over second placed Dunnes Stores now stretches to more than five percentage points, the largest gap ever posted.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 4.4% for the 12 week ending period 7 August 2011, up from 3.9% in the previous period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Edward Garner, Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “It is evident that shoppers are trying to manage their ‘personal’ inflation by trading down. This can be done by seeking out lower priced outlets and cheaper alternative products.

“It’s therefore unsurprising that the discounters have pushed further ahead this month. Lidl has recorded year-on-year sales growth of 13.8% enabling it to retain its record market share of 2.6%. However, the stand-out performance comes from Aldi this month, with growth of 24.4% and an all-time record share of 3.6% - up from 3.0% a year ago.”

The sharp decline of 36.8% for Netto is a result of the store conversions to the Asda brand alongside store disposals, as required by the OFT.

Edward continues: “While the discounters are prospering we are not seeing the shift towards consumers buying more own-label products that might be expected from cost cutting. In fact, budget own-label is showing only muted growth of 2%, while premium own-label is growing at over 8%, confirming that despite economic pressures, low-price is not the only motivation in this market.

“This is further demonstrated by the continued ‘two nations’ theme, as Waitrose shrugs off any gloom with sales growth of 8.3% - over double the market growth.”

This is a challenging market for the big four grocers, which have to appeal to a broad range of consumers, unlike the discount and premium niche players. Only Morrisons has managed to add share this period (11.6% to 11.7%), with year-on-year growth of 4.6% - slightly ahead of the market.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 5.2%* for the 12 period week ending 7th August 2011. This is an increase on the 4.8% reported last period. However, this remains well below the levels of over 9% we saw during the 2008 recession.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Since 2008 an additional two million people have eaten homemade savoury foods, with pizza, stews and casseroles, and chilli the most popular dishes.* Men aged between 35 and 44 are the main reason for this growth, eating home cooked food on 64 million more occasions in the last year compared to 2008.

Jodie Harris, client manager at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The recession has really made consumers much more aware of the cost of food and it has helped spark a revival of home cooked meals. With the average cost of an evening meal for four people at approximately £6 it is clear why people are reaching for their aprons.

“Consumers are also keen to cut the amount of food that they waste. In the past 12 months 6.6 million meals included food that needed ‘using up’ – demonstrating that cash-strapped consumers are keen to get more mileage from their food.”

While consumers have embraced home cooking for others elements of convenience are still influencing their choices. The use of ‘part homemade’ products, such as cooking sauces and meal kits, has risen 3% in the last year as people seek a balance between cost and ease of preparation.

Jodie adds: “With the amount of food eaten in the home up by 3% since 2008 it is clear more people are opting to stay in and save money rather than dining out. As a result we have seen a decline in customers eating out in the last three years.

“People have become more money conscious and they have also been less experimental in their diets. Staple meals such as spaghetti bolognese, shepherd’s pie and pizza have grown in popularity. You could even call it the comfort food effect.”

Among the retailers Aldi and Lidl continue to impress, posting sales growth of 26% and 7% respectively, pushing Lidl’s market share ahead of Superquinn for the first time. Tesco also grew slightly ahead of the market at 1.5% and increased its share from 27.6% a year ago to 27.8%. SuperValu performed slightly behind the market with a 1.2% decline, causing a minor drop in market share from 20.0% to 19.7%.

The figures also show that the prospective purchase of Superquinn by the Musgrave Group would see Musgrave capture 27.6% of the grocery market, making it a serious contender for the top spot among the grocers.

The addition of Superquinn to the Musgrave Group would push its combined share of the take home grocery market ahead of Dunnes, which has 23.0% share, and into competition with Tesco (27.8% share).

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “The potential acquisition would particularly affect the competitive Dublin area. Musgrave accounts for just 10% of grocery sales in Dublin but with the addition of Superquinn it would hold 23% of sales.

“The possible acquisition would create a ‘fresh food powerhouse’, with the combined group achieving 31.5% share of the fresh and chilled sector across Ireland – seven points ahead of Tesco. The challenge for the retailer would be to halt Superquinn’s decline by convincing shoppers that it is the place to shop for both quality and value for money.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 3.5% for the 12 week ending period 10 Jul 2011, down from 3.9% in the previous period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Grocery inflation steadily crept up this period, rising from 4.6% to 4.8%* this month, making it increasingly likely it will reach 5%.

Martin Whittingham, director at Kantar Worldpanel explains: “While we previously predicted that grocery inflation would not exceed 5% in 2011, we believe this no longer to be the case. It has been growing much faster than anticipated and as such we expect it to reach 5% and perhaps go beyond in the next few months. However, unlike the high inflation that we saw in 2008, when it was over 10% in a third of the grocery categories, we are only seeing double digit inflation in a small number of categories.

“The increasing inflation rate is putting extra pressure on shoppers’ ability to manage their household budgets. With this in mind we expect the grocery market to slow in the coming months.”

The theme of ‘two nations’ continues with Aldi and Lidl again posting strong double digit growth of 20.2% and 15.6% respectively. Both retailers now represent 6.1% of the market. Waitrose was the next big winner with growth of 9% and increasing its share from 4.1% a year ago to 4.3%.

Martin adds: “The increasing polarisation of the grocery market looks set to stay as consumers turn to the discounters to cut their budgets while others continue to spend in Waitrose. This divergence seems to be reflective of some contrasting lifestyles in the UK at the moment.”

Morrisons was the fastest growing of the big four retailers with growth of 5.6%, increasing its share from 11.8% to 11.9%. It was also the only big four retailer to grow ahead of the market this period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Against this murky background, the ‘two nations’ effect continues unabated. Both Aldi and Lidl have grown at nearly 18% year-on-year and hold onto their all-time record shares of 3.4% and 2.6% respectively. Contrastingly, Waitrose posted the next highest growth at 8.9%. Further evidence for the ‘two nations’ trend is demonstrated by double-digit growth of Tesco’s Finest range.

“The discounters are attracting some new customers but most of their growth is coming from gaining a greater share of the household shopping list. Customers are making a main shopping trip to their favourite store and this is then ‘topped up’ with selective shopping at the discounter – this has been dubbed ‘canny shopping’.”

Elsewhere, Asda suffered a downturn this period dropping its share from 16.7% last year to 16.3%, with the discounters bagging a larger share of its shoppers’ expenditure.

Market share for Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons remains relatively constant this period at 30.9%, 16.2% and 12.0% respectively.

Edward Garner concludes: “As the household budget remains tight, there is no doubt that many shoppers are adopting coping strategies such as taking advantage of promotional offers or ‘topping up’ at the discounters. However, there is no sign of a return to the rapid growth of budget own-label ranges that we saw in 2008.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.6%* for the 12 period week ending 12 June 2011. This is a marginal increase on the 4.4% reported last period. However, it remains Kantar Worldpanel’s view that grocery inflation will not exceed 5% this year and will persist at similar levels.

Dunnes Stores has posted sales growth of 1.4% and increased its market share from 23.6% last year to 23.7% for the same period this year, following 21 months of stagnation.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel Ireland explains: “The return to share growth for Dunnes Stores has been fuelled by strong sales in traditional areas such as frozen food, household cleaning, biscuits and confectionery. By using the strong presence of leading brands in these areas the retailer has been able to drive sales.

“Dunnes Stores has also benefited from a dedicated customer base. Over this period it has regained its position as the retailer with the most loyal shoppers, demonstrating the importance of returning customers in this market.”

With value at the top of the shopper’s agenda, Aldi and Lidl continued to be the main beneficiaries of growth during this period. Both retailers posted record share performances, powering ahead with double digit value sales growth of 27.7% and 10.6% respectively. Aldi increased its share from 3.4% last year to 4.3% and Lidl built on last year’s 5.6% share to achieve 6.1% of the market.

Elsewhere, Tesco grew slightly ahead of the market and posted an increase in market share from 27.1% last year to 27.3% for this period. SuperValu continued to perform slightly behind the market this month, dropping market share from 20.0% last year to 19.6% for the same period this year.

Growing speculation about the future ownership of Superquinn has done little to halt its sales decline, with a loss of market share from 6.8% last year to 6.2% this year.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 4.9% for the 12 week ending period 15 May 2011, down from 5.4% in the previous period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “The market has seen a boost this period, now growing at a far more respectable rate of 4.8% compared to the lacklustre performance we saw in March of 2.6%.

“In the four weeks leading up to 15 May the year-on-year grocery growth rate actually rose to a remarkable 7.8%, bolstered largely by Easter shopping, the good weather and, of course, the Royal Wedding.”

There is further evidence this month of ‘two nations’ developing when it comes to consumer spending, with both the discounters and Waitrose showing strong growth. Aldi and Lidl both continued to power ahead with double-digit growth with Aldi achieving an all-time record share of 3.4% compared with 3.1% a year ago and Lidl holding on to a 2.6% share, equalling the record Kantar Worldpanel reported last month.

With a strong growth rate of 8.8% Waitrose continues to impress, increasing its share from 4.1% over the same period last year to 4.3%, suggesting some consumers are not simply chasing low price.

With speculation rife over potential bids for Iceland the retailer posted strong sales growth of 5.7% and maintained its 1.9% market share.

Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “A rising tide lifts all boats and the top retailers performed well this month buoyed by the lifted market growth rate. Both Tesco and Morrisons increased their market share to 30.7% and 11.9% respectively, while Sainsbury’s share remained static at 16.3%.”

Asda has felt the pressure slightly this period, posting growth behind the market at 3.5% and dropping market share to 16.6% compared with 16.8% last year.

The Co-operative’s share (including Somerfield) has decreased from 7.4% a year ago to 6.8%. However, this is not a reflection of like-for-like performance as the OFT-directed store sales are still affecting the figures.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.4%* for the 12 period week ending 15 May 2011. This is a marginal increase on the 4.3% reported last period. However, it remains Kantar Worldpanel’s view that grocery inflation will not exceed 5% this year and will persist at similar levels.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Aldi leads the market in terms of growth, increasing value sales by a remarkable 27.5% compared with last year. Lidl also outperformed the market posting the second highest growth rate of 8.3%, a significant increase from February of this year when growth was only slightly ahead of the market at 3%. Both retailers increased their market shares, from 3.3% to 4.2% for Aldi and 5.7% to 6.1% for Lidl, compared to this time last year.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel Ireland explains the reasons for this growth: “Aldi and Lidl’s growth seems to be driven by customers’ increasing trust in their fresh food offering. Both retailers have seen phenomenal growth of 45% for Aldi and 37% for Lidl over the last three months, in their fresh meat, poultry and fish categories.

“However, if both retailers want to continue to gain market share they will have to entice more customers to their stores on a more regular basis. Currently shoppers visit Tesco and Dunnes on average more than once a week. In comparison, the average shopper only visits an Aldi or Lidl every other week - fresh food provides these two retailers with an incentive for customers to shop there more regularly.”

Superquinn continued to suffer this month with negative sales growth of 5% and a loss of market share from 6.9% last year, to 6.4% in the same period this year, leaving the retailer with Lidl snapping at its heels for position as the fourth largest grocery retailer.

Tesco posted a slight increase in growth of 1.6%, expanding its market share from 26.9% last year to 27.1%. Dunnes and SuperValu dropped market share slightly compared to last year from 23.7% to 23.6% and 19.8% to 19.5% respectively.

Market growth crept up slightly this period to 1.1% compared with 0.8% last month despite a minor rise in price inflation.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 5.4% for the 12 week ending period 17 April 2011, up from 5.3% in the previous period.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Aldi and Lidl lead market growth this period, with year-on-year sales increases of 15% and 14.7% respectively. Both retailers also achieved all-time record market shares of 3.3% for Aldi and 2.6% for Lidl.

Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “While the discounters are performing well this trend is not a re-run of 2008 when new shoppers turned to these outlets in response to the recession and 9% food price inflation. Currently, discounter growth is fuelled by existing shoppers sharply increasing their spending levels.

While in comparison to other major outlets Aldi and Lidl’s basket sizes remain relatively small, there is no doubt that these two retailers are now taking a larger portion of shoppers’ spending.”

After the discounters, the next highest grocery growth was posted by Waitrose at 7.7% - providing further evidence that not everyone is responding to economic pressures in the same way.

Major share growth remains elusive for the top four retailers this period with only Morrisons out-performing the market to lift share from 11.8% 12 months ago to 11.9%.

Edward Garner continues: “Last period, the grocery growth rate plunged from 3.9% to 2.6%, suggesting that shoppers’ purses had snapped shut. This period, growth has recovered somewhat to 3.6%. Part of the reason for this is the late timing of Easter in 2011. Seasonal products such as flowers, hot-cross buns, lamb and, of course, Easter eggs all showed sharp decreases over the same period last year as Easter was much earlier. However, this year there may well be a degree of catch-up taking place as Easter markets peak later.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 4.3%* for the 12 period week ending 17 April 2011. This is the fifth successive increase and remains ahead of grocery market growth. However, it remains our view that grocery inflation will not exceed 5% this year and will start to fall back during the Summer.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest grocery market figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 20 March 2011, show a dramatic response by consumers to food price inflation.

Market growth dipped this period to 0.8% compared with 1.6% last month. However, growth continued despite price inflation of 5.3%.

In a bid to control spending, shoppers cut back on the amount of groceries they bought this period with the average household reducing the amount of goods it purchased by 4%.

David Berry, Kantar Worldpanel Ireland, explains: “The biggest impact of the cutbacks was felt in the fresh and chilled sector, with the average household buying 4.7% fewer fresh or chilled products than it was three months ago. This shift towards reduced basket size demonstrates that consumers are cutting back where they can.”

In addition to reducing the amount they buy, shoppers also continued to trade down to cheaper products this month. Consequently own brand products now account for 35% of grocery spend, compared with only 33.5% last year.

David Berry continues: “Unsurprisingly there were mixed performances from the retailers this month with only Tesco, Aldi and Lidl growing ahead of the market. Value conscious shoppers continued to switch more of their grocery spend to the German discounters, with Aldi growing its share to 4% compared to 3.2% a year ago and Lidl increasing its share from 5.6% in 2010 to 5.9%. Tesco benefited from its recent store openings and increased its share to 27.2%.”

Elsewhere SuperValu posted a slight drop in market share, falling from 20.1% to 19.8% in the past 12 months. However, SuperValu’s recent announcement of future store openings demonstrates its investment in building its market share, suggesting the outlook for the retailer is positive.

Dunnes Stores continued to perform behind the market but its sales stabilised this month, following a prolonged decline throughout 2010, as it retained its 23.3% share of the market from last month.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation remained at 5.3% for the 12 week ending period 20 March 2011.*

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Overall market growth slowed slightly this period to 1.6% compared to 1.7% last month. However, shoppers are paying substantially more for their groceries this month, with the price of food increasing by 5.3% compared to 3.9% in the last period. Families already financially stretched have found themselves paying more this month for household staples such as fruit, vegetables and breakfast cereals, which, as well as beer and lager have seen significant hikes in price.

David Berry, Kantar WorldpanelIreland, comments: “Grocery inflation now stands almost 4% ahead of market growth and we expect to see this gap increase as consumers cut back on their spending in three distinct ways. As well as reducing the overall amount of groceries they buy, shoppers are increasingly choosing own label over branded goods, which now account for 34% of money spent on groceries; the highest level we have ever seen. Finally, shoppers are now spending a higher proportion of their weekly shop at the Discounters, reducing the overall amount of money spent.”

The retailers with a strong own label offering have benefited this month, with Tesco, Aldi and Lidl all gaining market share and growing ahead of the market. Aldi posted the strongest growth this month, increasing its sales by 25.7% and growing its market share by 0.6% since this time last year. Similarly Tesco and Lidl achieved sales growth of 4.8% and 3.0% respectively.

Following a successful Christmas trading period, SuperValu has continued to outperform the market increasing its market share to 20.2% from 19.9% last year. SuperValu has recently placed more emphasis on developing its own brand range in recent months, and this has helped the retailer to maintain growth ahead of the market.

At the premium end of the retail spectrum, Superquinn has suffered from consumers cutting back, and Dunnes has also experienced negative sales growth in the latest period.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation increased to 5.3% for the 12 week ending period 20 February 2011.*

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 20 February 2011 show that the market is subdued as shoppers watch their pennies.

Overall market growth slowed slightly this period to 3.9% compared to 4.2% last month. However, both Sainsbury’s at 5.2% and Morrisons at 4.5% outperformed, growing ahead of the market.

Sainsbury’s market share moved up to 16.5%, compared to 16.3% a year ago, which continues their strong run, gaining share every month since March 2009. Morrisons maintains its 12.3% market share from the same period last year. Tesco and Asda performed slightly behind the market, with share now standing at 30.3% and 16.9% respectively.

Fraser McKevitt, Retail Analyst at Kantar Worldpanel comments: “Waitrose followed the market trend of slightly slower growth this period, but still posted increased sales of 6.6% compared to a year ago, taking its market share to 4.4%, the highest ever recorded by the retailer.”

2011 has seen a return to strong growth from the discounters, both Aldi and Lidl delivering double digit growth, well-ahead of their performances in 2010. Aldi now hold 3.1% of the market, up from 2.8% last year and Lidl hold 2.4%, up from 2.2%.

Fraser McKevitt explains: “With economic uncertainty increasingly in the news it is no surprise that shoppers are being cautious with their spending. However, while the discounters are performing well this is not due to an increase in new shoppers, but rather because their existing customers are spending more with them. The majority of people continued to seek value through promotions in the mainstream retailers, rather than trading down to the discounters.”

The Co-operative’s market share stabilised at 6.7% this month, however this is a drop from 7.4% a year ago.Iceland’s market share remained at 2.0%, but it will find substantial market growth challenging in the next few months because of strong comparative numbers in 2010.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.7%* for the 12 period week ending 20 February 2011. Whilst this represents a notable increase from 3.1% reported last month, it is still well below the levels seen in 2008 and 2009, and shoppers are taking advantage of retailer promotions to manage their personal inflation rate.

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by British shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

The Best Companies annual survey is the largest of its kind with over 275,000 employees across diverse industries participating in 2011. Competition was fierce with 1,165 organisations applying to achieve ‘Star Status’ accreditation and 818 being successful. In total only 498 organisations were awarded ‘Star Status’. Alongside Kantar Worldpanel UK big guns Boots, Lloyds TSB, Virgin Money and McDonald’s were among the many companies listed.

The Sunday Times has been publishing the annual lists of the best companies to work for since 2001 and the accolade is highly regarded by employers and employees alike. Host, BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull called the event an opportunity to “celebrate a triumph.”

What makes the award particularly special is that the ranking is based purely on the confidential surveys completed by the employees, with the result clearly displaying Kantar Worldpanel’s continued commitment to providing the very best working environment within the UK. Minister for Employment Ed Davey commended all for responding with clarity to employees in the current climate.

Kantar Worldpanel, Managing Director, Tim Kidd, commented: “It's an honour to be counted among the best companies to work for in the UK.”

Kantar Worldpanel is the world leader in consumer knowledge and insights, based on continuous consumer panels, and offer market monitoring, advanced analytics and tailored market research solutions to a vast range of retailers, brands and industry. The UK operation is its largest with over 500 employees.

The full list of companies in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For will be published on Sunday 6th March.

Chips were eaten on over 2.7 million occasions in the last year proving that when it comes to potatoes Britons prefer them crispy. Over 330 million kilo grams of frozen chips were sold in Great Britain in the last year, with the majority being consumed towards the end of the week on Fridays and Saturdays.

Giles Quick, Director, from Kantar Worldpanel comments: “Chips have traditionally been perceived as a treat by consumers, however the recent move to lower the fat content of chips is changing this perception. Some of the more popular brands, such as McCain, now produce chips with only 3% fat content - this is equivalent to the fat content in wholemeal bread and less than that of porridge - making chips a less guilty pleasure.”

Fish and chips is the most popular meal to include chips, with the number of occasions fish and chips are bought and cooked at home rising by nearly 7% since 2007.

Britons are consuming three units a week less than they were in 2006, showing a decline in drinking as a popular British pastime. Changes in consumer lifestyles and an ageing population are contributing towards the decline, as well as increasing unemployment and falling disposable income during the recession, particularly among 18-24 year olds.

Kevan Mulcahey, Business Unit Director from Kantar Worldpanel explains: “While the recession has accelerated the fundamental changes in drinking habits that we have seen since 2006, it is not solely responsible for the drop in consumption. There has been a shift over the last decade towards more people consuming alcohol in the home than in bars and restaurants, and this has driven the decline in alcohol consumption.”

A Poor offer from drinking establishments, the increased availability of in home entertainment and heavy drinks promotions in supermarkets have helped increase the at-home share of alcohol consumption to 70% in 2010 compared to 66% in 2006. The decline in alcohol consumption out of the home is considerable with just 5.6 billion drinks served in the UK in 2010 compared to 8.3 billion in 2001.

Kevan Mulcahey continues: “As people have made spending cutbacks they have also reduced the number of visits to bars and pubs, and when they do go out they are looking to make the occasion special. Pubs and bars therefore need to ensure that they are offering consumers something different to what they can get at home. Cocktails for example, have proven to be a differentiator with the category maintaining its share of drinkers in 2010.”

For those drinking at home pre-mixes have proved to be popular with £24m spent on drinks such as vodka and cola in the past year. This is reflective of the overall shift towards convenience and drinking at home, and also the continued preference in sweeter alcoholic drinks that has been seen since 2000.

Kevan Mulcahey concludes: “We are seeing a decline in alcohol consumption and a continuous shift towards drinking at home but drinks manufacturers and retailers can take advantage of the growth of at-home drinking with clever marketing strategies targeted at the at home occasion supported by sensible promotional activity.

“Whilst the government announced earlier this year that it has decided to take action on minimum pricing it has yet to decide when these new plans will actually be implemented. It is also fair to say that when existing levels of promotional activity are reviewed the impact will not be that significant.”

The Irish grocery market continued to grow at 1.7% in the latest period slightly behind the previous period (2.1%), while inflation also remained ahead of the market growth rate as shoppers traded down to cheaper products.

A drop in household income, following budget cuts and new taxes taking effect in January, meant many customers cut back again on their groceries after the festive season. With an increased focus on value, own label goods performed well this period with growth of 4.5%, while branded goods remained flat at 0.4%.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “As fresh cuts squeezed shoppers’ wallets this period we’ve seen a mixed performance from the retailers. As you would expect in these austere times the Discounters have continued to prosper with Aldi posting excellent sales growth of 23.6%. Lidl has also grown ahead of the market (6.3%), increasing its share from 5.2% in January 2010 to 5.4%, but the gap which had opened up between Aldi and Lidl’s rate of growth remains.”

With a strong own label offering Tesco recorded respectable growth and outperformed the market for the 17th period in succession. Growth of 5.9% lifted Tesco’s share by 1.1 percentage points to 27.4% - widening its lead over Dunnes Stores from 2.4 points last year to a gap of 4.1 points this quarter.

Boosted by strong Christmas sales Supervalu continued to grow ahead of the market at 2.5% - keeping its share above 20%.

David Berry, continues: “Outside these four retailers trading conditions remained difficult for the Irish grocery market. Dunnes Stores saw a slight drop in sales (0.7%) while Superquinn continued to suffer as shoppers sought value, with sales declining by 8.3%. As shoppers tighten their belts it will be important for the traditional premium stores to balance their offering with value products.”

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation remains at 3.9% for the 12 week ending period 23 January 2011.*

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

Over 2.3 million bunches of flowers were sold for 14 February 2010, just under a million fewer than in 2009 as consumers’ tightened their purse strings. Men in particular have cut back on their St Valentine’s Day gift purchases, buying 2.3 million fewer gifts in 2010 than in 2009. As men account for over two thirds of the St Valentine’s Day gifting market the loss of their custom will have a negative impact on retailers looking to target this market.

Alex Seron, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel GiftTrak, comments: “The fact that St Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday last year certainly contributed to the decline in flower sales, particularly for those independent shops that don’t open on a Sunday. Retailers should be more optimistic this year as St Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday and people are more likely to purchase flowers on the actual day to ensure that they are still fresh.”

For those that were fortunate enough to receive flowers from admirers last year the bunch may not have been as large as usual. The average amount spent per person on flowers declined to £15 from £18 in 2009 and £19 in 2008 – suggesting that the price of love is not what it used to be.

One factor reducing the amount spent on flowers is the increasing prominence of supermarkets in this sector. Supermarkets now sell the majority of flowers bought for the 14 February with just under 1.5 million bunches of flowers purchased at the grocery retailers last Valentine’s day.

Alex Seron, continues: “Despite the fact that supermarkets only began to dominate the St Valentine’s Day flower market in 2008 their impact has certainly been considerable. The average amount spent on all St Valentine’s Day presents in the supermarkets is under £10 and this may explain the drop in the amount spent on flowers in the last three years. Independent florists should emphasise the personal touch that their bouquets offer to distinguish themselves from the supermarkets.”

It was not only the flower market that suffered last February. Just over 11 million romantic gifts were bought last year, 16% fewer than in 2009 and continuing the decline started in 2008.

The latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 23 January 2011 show an emerging counter trend this period with strong performances at both ends of the value spectrum.

Within the big four retailers, Sainsbury’s has had a strong entry into 2011 and is once again the only outlet to increase market share, from 16.3% a year ago to 16.6%. Among the other major grocery retailers Tesco and Asda have effectively matched market growth and held onto share but Morrisons has experienced a slight dip this period from 12.5% to 12.4%. However, it should be acknowledged that it is faced with strong year-on-year comparatives as its 12.5% share in January 2010 was a record performance for Morrisons.

Elsewhere in the grocery market, two contrasting sectors are experiencing robust growth. Edward Garner, Communications Director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “With growth of 7.1%, Waitrose continues to benefit from strong sales at Christmas, boosted by new shoppers this year at both existing and new stores. However, with a group of shoppers tightening their purse strings and seeking value we’re also seeing a counter trend at the other end of the retail scale. Although January is not traditionally a strong period for the discounters, both Aldi and Lidl have posted near 10% growth and lifted the total discounters’ market share from 5.9% last year to 6.1% in the latest period.”

The Co-operative has lost 0.6% market share in the latest period as a result of direction by the Office of Fair Trading to sell-off some Somerfield stores. However as Somerfield has now effectively ceased to exist, going forward the market share of The Co-operative will be a more accurate reflection of its performance. Finally,Iceland’s strong run has come to an end with year-on-year growth held at 2.1%, reflecting a flat performance for the frozen food market overall.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation stands at 3.1%* for the 12 week ending period 23 January 2011 and is thus largely unchanged for the last six reports. Any inflationary movements in world foodstuff prices as reported by the media are effectively being held back by high levels of promotional discount.

The Irish grocery market remained in growth for the latest period at 2.1%, slightly ahead of the previous period (1.6%). With inflation falling to 3.9% from a previous high of 4.2%, fewer consumers traded down in December compared to November – keeping the market in growth.

However, there were mixed fortunes for the retailers. Tesco continued to be the main beneficiary of growth in the market, increasing its share by over one point, to 27.2%, compared to last Christmas. Supervalu was the most improved performer over the festive season, growing ahead of the market at 3% for the first time in nine months and increasing its market share to 19.9%.

David Berry, Commercial Director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “Supervalu performed well over the festive season and this is reflected in the strong performance in the final four weeks before Christmas. Supervalu may have benefited from its local stores as the adverse weather conditions encouraged many people to shop locally rather than risk getting stuck further afield.”

There were contrasting performances for the Discounters this Christmas. Aldi continued to post excellent growth at 22.9%, increasing its sales by €15m with strong sales across the alcohol, ambient food and fresh and chilled sectors. Conversely Lidl’s growth slowed from 9.4% in the last period to 6.7% in the run up to Christmas.

Premium retailer Superquinn had a less prosperous Christmas than others, recording a dip in its market share from 6.4% to 6.1%.

David Berry explains: “Traditionally shoppers trade up to premium ranges in the run up to Christmas and Superquinn would usually benefit from this trend. However, household incomes in Ireland were increasingly squeezed towards the end of last year, which impacted on Superquinn’s sales at Christmas.”

This move away from festive premiumisation was also echoed in the battle between branded and own label products as shoppers continued to prioritise value for money at Christmas. Sales of branded products are usually boosted at Christmas but this trend was reversed in December with own label ranges growing in value by 5% and branded lines remaining flat.

An update on inflation

Grocery inflation is at 3.9% for the 12 week ending period 26 December 2010.*

*This figure is based on over 75,000 identical products compared year-on-year in the proportions purchased by Irish shoppers and therefore represents the most authoritative figure currently available. It is a ‘pure’ inflation measure in that shopping behaviour is held constant between the two comparison periods – shoppers are likely to achieve a lower personal inflation rate if they trade down or seek out more offers.

According to the latest research by Kantar Worldpanel GiftTrak, the value of gifts purchased online increased from 14% to 19% between Christmas 2008 and 2009 but remained frozen in the latest festive period. It is likely that heavy snow and freezing conditions caused fears that gifts would not be delivered in time for Christmas and put many shoppers off online purchases in December.

Alex Seron,Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel GiftTrak, comments: “Despite retailers’ best efforts to clear the backlog caused by the disruptive weather, many could not guarantee deliveries before Christmas and some even closed their online stores earlier than planned. Many consumers themselves struggled to get out in the snow but they had to return to traditional in-store shopping to ensure their presents were under the Christmas tree on 25 December.

“Conversely supermarkets had their best year yet for Christmas gifting, with many consumers only venturing outdoors for essential grocery shopping trips. The high streets are usually at their busiest over the festive period but this Christmas shoppers bought gifts such as DVDs, toys and books while doing their grocery shop.”

Despite difficult online and high street trading conditions, the total Christmas gifting market grew in 2010, with 8% more presents bought over the latest festive period than in 2009. Gifts sold through grocery retailers were the drivers of this growth, with confectionary, videos and DVDs recording the strongest sales. Elsewhere, electronic stores also had a prosperous Christmas with gift sales increasing by £350 Million since 2009.

Alex Seron adds: “Popular new gadgets such as the Apple iPad and Xbox Kinect were top of many Christmas lists and will have helped to boost sales at electronic stores. This Christmas shoppers had an even greater incentive to buy these big ticket items over the festive period before the VAT hike on 4 January made them more expensive.”