May heatwave drives UK grocery sales growth

(Sharecast News) - UK grocery sales rose 2.4% in the four weeks to 14 June, as record May temperatures and a 10-day heatwave lifted demand for barbecue and summer products, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. The market research group said like-for-like grocery inflation stood at 3.0%, easing concerns that higher costs linked to the Middle East conflict were feeding through to supermarket shelves.

Suncare sales rose 128%, fresh beef burgers were up 40%, syrups for water increased 31%, and no- and low-alcohol drinks grew 23%.

Promotional activity also continued to rise, with the share of grocery spending on deals increasing year on year for the 39th consecutive month to 30.4%.

Online grocery sales grew 9.1%, with nearly a quarter of British households making at least one online grocery purchase.

Ocado was the fastest-growing grocer over the 12 weeks to 14 June, with sales up 13.5% and market share rising to 2.2%.

Lidl gained the most share, up 0.5 percentage points to 8.7%, while Co-op returned to share growth at 5.3%.

Tesco remained the largest grocer with a 28.0% share, followed by Sainsbury's at 15.3%, Asda at 11.5% and Aldi at 10.7%.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.