Supermarket price inflation has hit its highest level in a decade of 5.2% in March, according to new industry data, sending shoppers increasingly towards own-label products and discounters like Aldi and Lidl.
Aldi achieved a record market share of 8.6% over the past three months, data from Kantar showed, with Lidl equalling its best share performance at 6.4%.
For all supermarkets together, total sales fell 6.3% in the 12 weeks to 20 March and the average number of visits by households also fell, which was the first year-on-year decline in grocery shopping for a year, as consumer habits continue to find a path out of the pandemic.
Households made 15.4 visits to the supermarket on average last month, Kantar found, compared with 15.6 trips in March 2021.
“It’s no surprise that sales are down over the latest period as consumers are now more confident eating out of the home again," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.
"As well as enjoying meals out with friends and families, people will have also been grabbing food and drink on the go from supermarkets while travelling or at work."
He added that as people are socialising and commuting more than at any other point since the pandemic began, consumers do not have as much time or need to go to the shops.
“They also simply don’t need to buy as much food and drink to have at home. Higher fuel prices could be playing a role here too as people try to save petrol by visiting the supermarkets less often – something for us to keep a close eye on over the coming weeks.”
Some pandemic trends are proving stickier than others, with online shopping being chief among them, as 12.6% of sales were made online this past month compared with 8% three years ago.
Shoppers over the age of 65 buying online has doubled from 9% to 18% over the past three years.