Ireland's grocery sales have seen their biggest fall for two years as shoppers reign in spending in the face of "tough" economic conditions, the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel reveal.
According to Kantar, the grocery market fell by 1.3% in the 12 weeks ending 8 July, the biggest year-on-year decline since August 2010.
The news demonstrates the deep-seated economic problems that are hitting Irish household incomes.
However, there are those who have benefited from the situation. Retailer own-label sales are up 1.9%, while retailers with a strong price message - Aldi, Lidl and Tesco - are also gaining share.
GROCERY MARKET SEES BIGGEST DECLINE SINCE AUGUST 2010 AS SHOPPERS CUT BACK FURTHER
The latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland for the 12 weeks ending 8 July 2012 show the grocery market has fallen by 1.3% compared with the same period last year, the steepest decline since August 2010.
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.
