Britain's grocery market lost a little momentum last month as the back-to-school return to work and school routines meant fewer trips to the tills, according to Deutsche Bank.
Total take-home sales grew 2.0% in the four weeks to 6 September, down from 2.5% in the previous period, analyst Benjamin Yokyong-Zoega noted, citing Worldpanel data.
Growth leaned on rising prices, with grocery inflation ticking up 0.2 percentage points to 2.3%, rather than on busier baskets.
The competitive picture was mixed.
Over the 12 weeks, Tesco continued to give up market share, down 0.3 percentage points year on year, the same slippage as in the prior reading.
Sainsbury's held its share flat, having edged up slightly before.
Marks & Spencer was the standout, growing 14.8% as the drag from last year's cyber attack washed out of the figures, only a shade below the 15.9% clocked in July.
Deutsche Bank read the data as mixed for Tesco, which reports interim results on 8 October, and for Sainsbury's, due on 22 October.
For M&S, which updates on 4 November, the picture looked more encouraging.
The numbers underline a familiar theme for the sector: with volumes subdued and shoppers still watchful, much of the growth on the tills is coming from price rather than from families buying more.
