Strong Christmas sales have led budget supermarket Aldi to become the UK’s fifth largest supermarket, overtaking the Co-op in terms of market share.
Aldi’s sales rose 12.4 percent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to January 29th, taking its market share to 6.2 percent. It is now above the Co-op, who have a 6.0 percent slice of the market according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel.
“Underpinned by an extensive programme of store openings, the past quarter has seen Aldi attract 826,000 more shoppers than during the same period last year,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.
Budget retailers such as Aldi and Lidl have been increasingly taking the market share of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets, who have suffered from a lack of demand and price inflation. Ten years ago Aldi was relatively new to the British market, taking around 2 percent of market share; Aldi and Lidl now control nearly 11 percent of the UK grocery market.
Matthew Barnes, chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Aldi customers get products of comparable quality to the leading brands at prices that are significantly cheaper than any of our competitors. This unique offering is resonating with British shoppers and we are opening 70 new stores this year to help keep up with customer demand.”
The Christmas season saw the Big Four supermarkets perform their strongest in several quarters, with Tesco remaining the clear leader with more than 28 percent of the market. Morrisons benefitted from an effective turnaround plan, surprising analysts with strong figures, with Sainsbury’s also seeing better-than-expected trading.