Covid restrictions drive online food shopping to record high as customers eat in to help out
Online grocery shopping hit a record 14 per cent share of the UK grocery market in January, as customers bought more food to enjoy from home.
The growth was boosted by a 229 per cent year-on-year rise in online spending by retired households.
Supermarkets saw sales growth accelerate to 12.2 per cent in the last 12 weeks, as reintroduced lockdown measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 caused people to spend more on food and drink.
Data from market researcher Kantar found the grocery market saw year-on-year growth of 11.4 per cent in the last 12 weeks, which reflected more people eating at home as cafes, restaurants and pubs were forced to close.
In January alone, shoppers spent £1bn more on supermarket food and drink items compared with the same four-week period last year, with the average family spending £50 or more on groceries.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said many chose to shrug off Dry January this year.
“Dry January also played a role in increased spend on no-alcohol beer, which grew by 12 per cent. However, many sought to indulge and keep spirits high during a tough winter month, and alcohol sales grew overall by £324m – an uplift of 29 per cent on last year.”
Supermarket rankings
Morrisons, Britain’s number four supermarket group, was the best performer of the four major players, with sales growth of 14.3 per cent in the last 12 weeks, compared with the same period last year.
In second place was Tesco, with growth of 12.2 per cent, followed by Sainsbury’s and Asda, with 12 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.
Of all supermarkets, however, online supermarket Ocado was the year-on-year winner, pulling in 36.6 per cent sales growth in the past 12 weeks.
UK grocery inflation was 1.3 per cent over the 12 weeks, Kantar said, with prices rising fastest for canned colas, skincare and chilled fruit and drinks, while falling in vegetables, fresh beef and rice and noodles.