Take-home Grocery Figures

Rising prices begin to shape behaviour

Kantar figures show online sales were down by almost 20% year-on-year over the past month.

Households in the UK spent £26 less on average at supermarkets in February, as own-label sales did better than brands for the first time in three months, new Kantar figures reveal.

Kantar’s latest take-home grocery figures in the UK show that supermarket sales fell by 3.7% over the 12 weeks to 20 February 2022. However, sales remain 8.4% higher than the same period before the pandemic in 2020.

Kantar says the annual decline reflects last year’s winter lockdown when the public was eating more meals and snacks at home.

Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight, Worldpanel Division, UK, said: “It’s important to flag that the drop in monthly spending isn’t all down to savvy budgeting. With the formal end to Covid-19 restrictions in England, more of us are now eating on the go, buying sandwiches, salads and snacks on our lunch breaks, and enjoying meals out with friends and family. That means we’re buying less food and drink to have at home.”

Kantar’s figures show that the discounters are especially benefiting from shoppers making more visits to stores.

Meanwhile, online sales were down by almost 20% year-on-year over the past month.

Kantar figures also reveal that shopper routines were disrupted by extreme weather. Storms Dudley and Eunice resulted in nearly seven million fewer shopping trips during the week ending 20 February compared with expectations for this time of year.

It wasn’t all bad news though. Sales of chilled desserts and still and sparkling wine jumped by 15% in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, and sales of boxes of chocolates leapt 53%.