J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) and Asda have become the joint second biggest UK supermarkets since their plans to merge collapsed, industry data has revealed.
In April the proposed merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda was blocked by the UK competition watchdog over concerns it would raise prices and reduce choice for consumers.
READ: Sainsbury's posts second straight quarter of underlying sales decline although full-year profit beats forecasts
Kantar Worldpanel on Wednesday said Sainsbury’s saw its market share fall by 0.5 percentage points (ppts) to 15.2% while Asda lost 0.2 ppts to 15.2% in the 12 weeks to May 19.
“With the CMA ruling against the proposed merger now behind them, Asda and Sainsbury’s are neck and neck in the number two position this period as overall sales at Asda fell 0.2% despite online growth of 10.7%,” said Chris Hayward, consumer specialist at Kantar.
Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) remained the number one supermarket, keeping a market share of 27.3%.
WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) was in fourth place with a market share of 10.5% in the period, down 0.1 ppts on last year.
Discounters Aldi and Lidl continued to take market share from the so-called Big Four. Aldi’s market share rose by 0.7 ppts to 8.0% and Lidl’s increased 0.4 ppts to 5.8%.
“The discounters continue to attract customers with nearly one million more households visiting Aldi compared with last year and an additional 630,000 shopping at Lidl,” said Hayward.
“Around 75% of growth at both supermarkets is coming from the ambient and chilled aisles as people opt for value in a greater proportion of their basket.”