Online grocery sales are booming, but a ‘greater sense of security’ is driving us back to supermarkets

IRISH FOOD BUYERS are returning to more normal spending habits even as the popularity of online shopping continues to grow.

During the 12 weeks to September 6, people visited supermarkets more often than in the 12 weeks to June, according to the latest figures from data analytics company Kantar.

At the same time, growth in take-home sales in Ireland slowed to 13.7% year-on-year. It means that people are buying a lot more than before the pandemic, but the rate of increase is starting to slow.

Emer Healy, Retail Analyst at Kantar, explains: “Grocery sales over the past 12 weeks are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, but compared to purchases in April and May, routines are much closer to what normally we would wait.

“People visit grocery stores more often than since June, an average of 19 times over the past four weeks, indicating a greater sense of security among shoppers since face coverings were introduced in early June. August”.

At the same time, the online sales boom has continued apace, growing by almost 122% from the beginning of August to September 6.

In this market, SuperValu continues to grow ahead of its competitors and has the largest share of spending at 22.1%, while Tesco has a market share of 21%.

Healy says: “This represents another month of record growth for the online channel and digital sales added € 72.9 million to the total market in the last 12 weeks.

“New buyers accounted for almost a quarter of the 133.6 million euros spent on online groceries during that time.”

Separately, the data reveals that a 19 million euro increase in grocery spending in August coincided with the imposition of local closures in Kildare, Offaly and Laois as people stocked up.

With Dublin entering Tier 3 of the government’s new plan and the possibility of other local closures as a possibility in the near future, Kantar believes the market could accelerate again in the short term.

“An additional € 19 million spent on groceries over the last month coincides with the start of a series of local closures. This suggests that local restrictions are already leaving their mark, with people in certain parts of the country spending more to stock up on food and beverages to consume at home, ”Healy explains.

In Dublin, which has seen the highest growth of any region in the last six weeks, shoppers spent an additional € 141 million on groceries compared to last year.

Says Healy: “It will be interesting to see what effect the local lockdown could have on grocery sales as shoppers navigate new restrictions.”

Overall, Kantar says that retailers have benefited from the reopening of schools in September.

While sales of certain school lunch staples, such as yogurt drinks and juices, were up 11% in the period, Healy says, “One marked difference this year is that facial tissues and tissues have become a must-have for children’s backpacks, with a growth of 15% respectively “.