Bracknell - May 24, 2005 - IRI (Information Resources) today announced that overall value sales in the first quarter of 2005 were up by 1.7% through the major supermarkets and health and beauty retailers. This compares to a 4.8% increase seen in the same quarter of 2004.
Growth has been driven by non-food which saw an increase of 4.6%, helped by the post-Christmas sales period where consumers took advantage of the hefty discounts available on household goods. Grocery sales were fairly static, at -0.2%, which is a more promising start to the year after the -0.6% decline seen at the end of 2004.
Results for the full year are also positive with an increase in total sales of 1.4% compared to the same period in 2004. Sales within non-food are up, which is reassuring following the speculation that consumer spending will decrease because of fears of further interest rate hikes and uncertainty in the housing market.
Mothers Day and the early Easter both helped to boost sales figures in non-food. However the warmer weather over the first holiday period of the year did not help increase spending in Grocery which has declined by -0.3% over the full year.
Trends by category
Chilled Food continues to grow, with Fresh Pasta showing the greatest increase in value sales for the latest 12 (11.7%) and 52 (13.1%) weeks. This indicates that the consumer’s love affair with the Atkins Diet could finally be over. Sales fell dramatically for chilled sauces, dips and dressings and ready meals and sauces, which is likely to be a result of the Sudan-1 scare during February.
Wine had the highest contribution and growth to the Beers, Wines and Spirits category. The increase, which is up 5.7% on a year ago, may be due to a combination of the early holiday period and an increasing number of discounts available. The biggest decline comes from Other Beers, Wines and Spirits as ready-to-drink formats continue to struggle.
Fresh Fish saw a rise of 14.6% compared to the same 12 weeks in 2004. This revival may be caused by the current trend towards healthier eating, convenience and, in some cases, the endorsement of celebrity chefs.
Overall sales in Fresh Meat showed a further decline after a disappointing end to 2004. The biggest year on year increase came from other fresh meat at 8.4%, this may be due to the wider availability of more exotic meats such as ostrich, kangaroo and crocodile. Sales of lamb also increased on last year which could be a reflection of extra sales generated by an ad campaign for New Zealand lamb targeted around Mothers Day and Easter. The Grocer (Jan 29, 2005) also reports that lamb is becoming a more popular choice among younger consumers, which could be starting to impact sales.
The Produce sector showed a sales increase over the quarter with the largest growth coming from nuts and dried fruit and salad vegetables. The unseasonably warm weather over the holiday period is likely to be a contributing factor for this as people dusted off their BBQ’s and started entertaining earlier than usual.
Overall sales for the Ambient category were down for the year. Confectionary saw a 10.1% increase on the same period last year thanks to the early Easter. The biggest change over 12 weeks, up 47.5%, was in Other Ambient, which includes mixed ambient product ranges and gift sets. Again, a marked decrease in sales of ambient ready meals is likely to be a knock-on effect from the Sudan-1 crisis.
Sales continue to decline in Frozen Food with all sectors showing a decrease for the first quarter of the year. Despite continued advertising and promotional activity across the categories it seems that consumers are still favouring chilled and fresh produce over the frozen alternatives.
‘Other non-food’ continues to drive growth within non-food. The sector saw a big increase in ‘miscellaneous non-food’ which includes clothing, DIY, furniture and motoring accessories. This could be due to the seasonal sales period at the beginning of January and the increased spending over the Easter bank holiday. Tobacco, newspapers and magazines, lottery and stationary are all showing good growth compared to the same time last year and sales of computer games were also up for the period, with thanks going to Santa for filling Christmas stockings with new gaming consoles.
The early Easter holidays may again be a contributing factor toward the increased growth in suncare within Health and Beauty, as many people took the opportunity to escape abroad, however growth for the year is down -4.1%. Baby Food saw the biggest year on year increase, while toiletries sales continued to decline, which could be a result of the heavy promotional competition between retailers.
Petcare sales show a small decline with the biggest growth coming from Other Petcare. Consumers are now prepared to spend more on their pets wellbeing and retailers are catering to this need, making more non-food products available in-store that can be picked up alongside the weekly grocery shop.
Sales within the Household sector continue to decline with a drop of -6.0% on the same quarter in 2004. None of the categories saw any growth and the biggest decline came from Household Sundries, which includes sectors such as Air and Shoe Care.
Background Data
| |
52 Weeks to end March 2005
|
12 wks to Mar 2005
|
| |
Value Sales
(m)
|
% change
|
% contribution*
|
% change
|
| Total Sales |
£73,038
|
1.4
|
|
1.7
|
| Grocery |
£49,450
|
-0.3
|
0.2
|
-0.2
|
| Chilled |
£12,100
|
1.8
|
0.4
|
-0.2
|
| Beers, Wines & Spirits |
£6,457
|
2.0
|
0.3
|
2.5
|
| Bakery |
£2,892
|
1.1
|
0.1
|
-2.6
|
| Other Grocery |
£61
|
5.9
|
0.0
|
16.0
|
| Fresh Fish |
£748
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
14.6
|
| Fresh Meat |
£3,415
|
-0.6
|
0.0
|
-0.5
|
| Produce |
£6,197
|
-1.3
|
-0.2
|
2.0
|
| Ambient |
£13,954
|
-1.0
|
-0.3
|
-0.4
|
| Frozen |
£3,520
|
-7.6
|
-0.6
|
-8.4
|
| Non Food |
£24,505
|
4.8
|
1.5
|
4.6
|
| Other Non-Food |
£12,517
|
11.4
|
5.2
|
11.4
|
| Health & Beauty |
£7,343
|
0.8
|
0.2
|
0.7
|
| Petcare |
£1,044
|
-1.8
|
-0.1
|
-1.7
|
| Household |
£3,600
|
-5.4
|
-0.8
|
-6.0
|
Data used: 52 weeks to 2 April 2005
* % contribution is the weighted per cent change within each sector
Please note data in this report is taken from the InfoScan TotalStore service which does not currently include Morrisons data. Some of the sales decline could be attributed to the conversion of Safeway stores to the Morrisons fascia.
Source: InfoScan TotalStore, Copyright © Information Resources, 2005. All rights reserved. InfoScan TotalStore tracks the sales of all goods sold in the following major retailers in Great Britain: Asda, Boots, Co-ops, Iceland, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield / Kwik Save, Superdrug, Tesco and Waitrose.
To download the full report, click here
For more information please contact:
Rebecca Schanche
E-mail: supermarketreview@infores.com
Phone: +44 (0)1344 747859