Aldi leapfrogs Waitrose, Asda struggles

Discount supermarket Aldi has overtaken upmarket rival Waitrose to become the sixth largest grocer in the country, industry figures showed today.

Aldi achieved a 5.3% market share in the 12 weeks to March 29 in the latest till roll figures from Kantar Worldpanel after boosting sales by 16.8% during the period.

This beats Waitrose, which had been the sixth largest grocer, which saw sales lift 2.9% to claim a 5.1% market share.

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In a mixed bag for the big four supermarkets, Tesco continued to make gains under a turnaround by new boss Dave Lewis seeing sales grow 0.3% to give it a 28.4% share, while Sainsbury's lifted sales 0.2% to a 16.4% market share.

But Asda saw its sales fall 1.1% to give it a share of 17.1%, while sales at Morrisons fell 0.7% to a 10.9% market share.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: "Aldi has recorded double-digit sales growth for the past four years and is now Britain's sixth largest supermarket with 5.3% of the market."

He said Aldi's growth had been fuelled by over half a million new shoppers visiting Aldi this year, with its average basket size increasing by 7%. But he added that although the grocer's rise was high compared to rivals, it was still slower than in recent times.
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The country's other large discount supermarket Lidl saw its sales jump 12.1% over the period to a 3.7% market share.

Mr McKevitt added: "The changing structure of Britain's supermarket landscape is illustrated by two facts.

"Firstly, the so called discounters Aldi and Lidl now command a combined 9% share of the market. In 2012 the same two retailers only accounted for 5.4% of grocery sales.

"Secondly, the 72.8% share taken by the biggest four retailers is now at the lowest level in a decade."

The report said that consumers continued to benefit from falling prices that were now 2% cheaper than a year ago.

The survey said pressure from discounters had led to prices falling across the industry for 19 months in a row as a result of higher levels of promotions and deflation in major categories such as vegetables, milk, eggs and bread.

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