In the Media

• 18/02/2019 - Retail Gazette

  Blockbuster releases sees growth in Argos & Game’s market share

  
  

  The growth in physical entertainment market shares for Game and Argos has eclipsed the rate of growth for online retail giant Amazon, according to new research.
  
  Argos and Game’s sales increase is a result of its blockbuster video game titles being released during the 12 weeks to January 13.
  
  Game posts 2% boost in like-for-likes over Christmas
  
  The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel indicates that many of the sales were transferred from supermarkets, and accounted for 49.7 per cent of gaming sales compared with 61.5 per cent in the same period last year.

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• 17/02/2019 - BBC

  How Lidl learnt to be less German in the UK

  
  

  Lidl, along with its fellow German discounter Aldi, might be growing strongly in the UK right now but it wasn't always that way.
  
  Its former UK boss, Ronny Gottschlich, says that in the early years the discounters were really small players.
  
  "If anything it was considered to be a poor man's shop. The German discount model would sit in the corner and people thought you couldn't do your weekly shopping in there."
  
  According to Kantar Worldpanel, both Lidl and Aldi have increased their market share steadily over the last couple of years, with Lidl now accounting for 5.3% of the UK grocery market and Aldi 7.5%.

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• 16/02/2019 - The Guardian

  Virtual fences, robot workers, stacked crops: farming in 2040

  
  

  It is 2040 and Britain’s green and pleasant countryside is populated by robots. We have vertical farms of leafy salads, fruit and vegetables, and livestock is protected by virtual fencing. Changing diets have seen a decline in meat consumption while new biotech production techniques not only help preserve crops but also make them more nutritious.
  
  With the UK on course to be the most obese nation in Europe by 2030, a greater focus on healthy food will emerge. The popularity of flexitarian diets, which are predominantly vegetarian with only occasional meat and fish consumption, is likely to continue to increase. Already 41% of meat-eaters currently classify themselves as flexitarian, and the percentage of meat-free evening meals is on the rise in Britain, according to research from Kantar Worldpanel.

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• 06/02/2019 - The Times

  Sainsbury’s loses ground to big rivals

  
  

  J Sainsbury has emerged as the only one of the four big grocery retailers to suffer falling sales during Christmas and new year as it wrestles with doubts about its planned takeover of Asda.
  
  Sales at Sainsbury’s dropped by 0.3 per cent over the 12 weeks to January 27, figures from Kantar Worldpanel have found. The retail research specialist estimated that over the same period sales at Tesco had risen by 1 per cent, were up 0.4 per cent at Wm Morrison and had improved by 0.7 per cent at Asda.

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• 05/02/2019 - European SuperMarket Magazine

  Sainsbury’s Slides In Latest Kantar Worldpanel Market Share Figures

  
  

  Sainsbury’s was the only major UK retailer to post a decline in sales in the 12 week period to 28 January, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel market share figures, with the grocer seeing a 0.3% decline over the period to sit on 15.9% market share.
  
  Tesco retains number one position in the UK market, with a 1.0% sales gain over the period putting it on 27.7% market share. After second-placed Sainsbury’s, Asda holds 15.3% market share (+0.7% sales increase), followed by Morrisons, on 10.6% (+0.4%).
  
  Kantar Worldpanel said that Tesco’s centenary pledge to celebrate ‘100 years of great value’ has helped boost sales at the grocery, with its Exclusively at Tesco fresh food lines performing ‘particularly strongly’.
  

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• 05/02/2019 - Retail Times

  New Year’s resolutions lead to healthy grocery sales, Kantar Worldpanel reports

  
  

  The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to 27 January 2019 show the sector remains in growth – up 1.7% compared to this time last year – boosted in part by the strong performance of fresh produce for Veganuary. However, despite an overall sales increase year-on-year, total till roll sales fell £1.5 billion compared with the month of December.
  
  Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, comments:“Looking back on 2018 as a whole, one of the most notable consumer trends is the shift to a more plant-based diet. Today, 1% of all households include a vegan, 5% have a vegetarian and 10% have flexitarians in their ranks. This move has contributed to consumers eating a total of 4.4 billion meat-free dinners in 2018, an increase of 150 million meals on the year before.

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