BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
PLATINUM JUBILEE
Jubilee celebrations drive grocery sales
NielsenIQ data shows sales of teatime treats and fizz increased as Brits marked the Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
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ales at UK supermarkets topped £2.7bn in the week ending 4 June 2022, 10% above the year-to-date average, according to new data from NielsenIQ. The data reveals sales at the multiples during the week improved 3.5% yearon-year and 5.8% week-on-week. In terms of category performance, ambient grocery was up +11.6%, followed by household and pet products
(+7.7%), with beers, wines and spirits returning to growth (+7.0%). Excluding Christmas and Easter, this is the first time this category has seen sales improve since the week ending 11 September 2021. Over the Jubilee weekend, sales increased for disposable tableware (+56%), cream and custard (+48%), champagne (+47%), dough and pastry (+46%), dry pasta (+41%), sparkling wine (+40%), preserves
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(+39%) and frozen savoury products (+37%). There was also a significant uplift in sales for baking sundries (+32%), chilled soup (+31%), and noodles (+30%). NielsenIQ data also shows that impulse sales improved by 6.2%, led by items such as biscuits (+15.9%), confectionery (+11.2%), crisps (+11.2%) and nuts and seeds (+9.1%). However, against last year’s hot temperatures, soft drinks sales declined by 1.3%. In addition, health and beauty sales grew by 5.5% and fresh food was up 4.4%. Within the fresh food category, there was a particular improvement in sales for bakery (+15.7%), dairy (+10.6%), and convenience foods (+6.6%). Frozen food sales fell -3.8% against last year’s tougher comparatives. There was also a decline in sales for weather-related seasonal categories such as suncare, firelighters, ice-cream, squashes, and cordials. Tobacco sales also declined by -7.8% and non-food fell by 8.9%, the data shows. NielsenIQ also noticed a boost in on-premise sales during Jubilee celebrations, which were 5% higher than average. Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK Head of Retailer and Business Insight, said: “It has been a successful week for grocery retailers though we expect that sales next week are likely to be back in the region of £2.5bn.”
