Shoppers cut down on supermarket trips amid petrol panic buying
Brits limited the number of trips they made to supermarkets in the past month because of a reduced availability of fuel.
The average household made 15.5 store visits in the past four weeks, the lowest monthly figure since February, according to the grocery market share figures from Kantar.
The proportion of groceries bought online – which has seen a gradual decrease as the pandemic outlook improved over the past few months – crept up to 12.4 per cent.
Grocery sales fell by 1.2 per cent year on year in the 12 weeks to 3 October 2021. This is still considerably higher than pre-Covid levels, up 8.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2019.
Visits to forecourts in the south of England jumped 66 per cent on Friday September 24, when motorists rushed to stock up on petrol amid shortage fears.
After a lacklustre Christmas last year thanks to Covid rules, sales of Christmas puddings were up 76 per cent in the latest four weeks.
Shoppers may have also been concerned about the impact of HGV driver shortages on supermarkets’ Christmas supplies, despite bosses trying to reassure Brits.
Like-for-like grocery inflation stands at 1.7 per cent in the past four weeks.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “In real world terms, the average household had to spend an extra £5.94 on groceries last month than they did at the same time last year. The typical household spends £4,726 per year in the supermarkets, so any future price rises will quickly add up. Shoppers will look to manage their spend by carefully selecting the products and retailers that offer them the best value.”