Tesco loses market share to Aldi, Dunnes Stores and Lidl

Supermarket giant Tesco is continuing to lose ground in Ireland, suffering a further slump in market share in the 12 weeks to November 10th.

Statistics from research company Kantar Worldpanel show the British retailer is currently being outperformed by Dunnes Stores, Aldi and Lidl in the Irish groceries market.

Tesco has seen a 6 per cent drop in sales leading to a 1.5 per cent decline in its share of the multibillion Irish grocery market.

The retailer may still have a biggest market share but Dunnes is catching up, growing its share to 23.6 per cent, while Tesco’s fell to 26.5 per cent.

Kantar Worldpanel commercial director David Berry said Dunnes performed ahead of the market for the third successive month.

“Discounter Aldi continues to set the pace. However, this is the first time its year-on-year growth has dipped below 20 per cent since April 2012, highlighting stiff competition in the grocery market.”

Aldi and fellow German discount retailer Lidl increased their respective market shares to 7.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent during the 12 weeks to November 10th.

The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel also point to a drop in price inflation to 2.9 per cent. Having remained above 4 per cent for the past 12 months, peaking in January at 6.4 per cent, the drop in inflation will be good news for Christmas shoppers.

“Fresh food has been the main driver of price inflation over the past year and this has now started to recede. For example, vegetables are now cheaper on average than they were last year,” Mr Berry said.

He said the drop in price inflation has caused the value of the grocery market to decline year-on-year following six months of sales growth as consumers continue to focus on value and savvy shopping.

Alcoholic drinks
One area which continued to experience significant inflationary pressure was alcoholic drinks – leading to a drop of over 5 per cent in the numbers buying wine, the survey found.

“Increased duty on alcohol as part of the October budget has affected wine in particular, where the average price has increased by 16 per cent,” Mr Berry said.

“As a result, 51,000 fewer shoppers have put wine in their baskets, while those who continue to buy have cut back by almost one bottle over the past 12 weeks.”