Keith McGregor’s Post

This article in Supermarket Perimeter exposes some shifts in how today’s food consumer spends money. The importance of recognizing changing spending habits amidst continued economic concern, is front and center. Discretionary spending is down, non-discretionary spending on essentials like food remains. Walmart data finds a strong attraction to discounts and shoppers’ focus on value are proving to be the right strategy for food retailers. Their data aligns with recent announcements by major retailers about heavy inventory and deeper discounting strategies. Savvy food and retail marketers will be looking for ways to drive demand in a market that expects and is seeking greater value than before. #food #grocery #retail #marketing #grocers https://lnkd.in/gFH_BYjm

Target Corp., which has focused on competitive pricing over the past several months, announced that it is reducing prices on more than 2,000 products during the holiday season. The retailer is making the move to help its shoppers celebrate occasions with more budget-friendly options across several categories, including food and beverage, everyday essentials, gifts and more. It is a strategy that seems to have paid off for Target, which beat analysts' expectations during its most recent quarterly reporting period. Sales comps and profits were both up in the second fiscal quarter, a time when the company shared that it was cutting prices on about 5,000 items. By the end of the holiday season, Target estimates that it will have lowered prices on more than 10,000 items during the year. In addition to the price cuts, Target is highlighting the value of its Target Circle loyalty program. Shoppers can save on a wide range of items through that free-to-join membership plan. Progressive Grocer | https://lnkd.in/g-278TTZ #retail #holiday #prices #food #loyalty #Target

Momentum in Grocery retail is crucial, if you don't have momentum coming out of Halloween then your Christmas numbers will not be good, you can also kiss goodbye to a fast start in the New Year! There is a definite gap between those with real momentum, those rebuilding it & the strugglers. Tesco, JS & Lidl stand out as their growth is significantly ahead of the market, 5% ahead for Lidl! These Retailers have been getting things right all year & then continue to set the pace. When your momentum is this strong then you are part of a well oiled machine making more good choices than bad. When you don't have momentum the first thing you have to do is stop the rot & this can take time. Morrisons now are in a place where what they are doing is working, it resonates with Customers & Suppliers now look at Morrisons as a place where, finally, there is an opportunity for growth. However, it is early days & it does not take much for this type of momentum to be derailed. I'd say that it's more than just green shoots in Waitrose now as well. Their growth is ahead of the market & they are best of the rest. Their stores and ranges are feeling more like Waitrose of old. They are being bold again with their food & focusing on what their Customers want, premium innovation! Historically Iceland always excelled & overperformed in Q4, they were always the destination for party food, remember their sponsorship of I'm a Celebrity? Aldi are still lagging behind but it feels like they are starting to come out of the other side after what has been a very disappointing year for them. They have relied on their premium ranges to boost sales at Christmas & I am sure they will, however with Waitrose starting to fire on all cylinders & M&S continuing their strong performance will it be enough? Asda? 8% behind the market, market share at a 12.5%, chaos surrounding it, a lack of leadership in key positions? Christmas is not going to be pretty & their is a chance their share will drop below 12%. If it doesn't over Christmas then it will next year..... #theretailmind #groceryshare

**It's Not Hard to Spot the 'Specials' Tags in the Supermarket. But How Special Are They?** We've all been there—wandering the aisles of Coles or Woolworths, eyes drawn to the brightly colored 'specials' tags promising savings. But are these deals as special as they seem? A recent analysis by ABC News (AU) of nearly 44,000 online product prices has revealed some insightful truths about the pricing strategies employed by these major supermarkets. It's not uncommon for shoppers to feel a thrill at saving a few dollars on groceries, especially amidst the rising cost of living. However, the ABC's investigation uncovers how supermarkets might use 'special' tags as a strategic tool rather than genuine discounts. The analysis suggests that thousands of items may not always present actual savings for consumers but rather are part of nuanced marketing techniques aimed at driving sales. This practice is not new nor exclusive to Australian supermarkets. Globally, retailers use price anchoring and decoy pricing to influence consumer perceptions. They might raise a product's base price shortly before putting it on 'special', or they might place it next to higher-priced items to make the discount appear more attractive. As consumers, it's crucial to remain vigilant and informed. Always check the unit price and compare across brands and stores. It might be useful to keep track of the prices of regular purchases over time to identify when a price is genuinely lower than usual. This analysis comes at a critical time as many households feel the pinch of escalating costs, making every dollar count. It's a call for transparency in pricing and a reminder for all of us to be smart about where and how we spend our hard-earned money. Ultimately, understanding these pricing dynamics helps us all make better-informed decisions and advocate for fairer pricing practices. Next time you see a 'special', take a moment to decide if it's genuinely a deal worth grabbing or just supermarket psychology at play. #RetailInsights #ConsumerAwareness #SupermarketSavings #CostOfLiving #SmartShopping #Coles #Woolworths #MarketingStrategies #ConsumerRights #ABCNews @Coles @Woolworths @ABCNews For more details, read the full article [here](https://lnkd.in/gWJ5xYwN).

In a food retail era still punctuated by high prices and changing consumer demand, today’s shoppers are focusing not only on pricing and promotions but also on convenience, cleanliness, and merchandise variety. A new study from Market Force is taking a deeper look at those consumer preferences, including which grocers are meeting their expectations. #groceryretail #loyaltyprograms

**M&S overtakes Waitrose as Middle England’s top grocer** Marks and Spencer has surpassed Waitrose & Partners as the preferred grocer for Middle England for the first time, at a key period ahead of the busy Christmas season. It marks the first time that M&S has ever overtaken the premium grocer outside the festive period, when figures are skewed by higher spending on food-to-order for the party season. Data from Kantar showed M&S held a 4.03% share of the grocery market for the four weeks to 3 November, compared with 3.76% a year earlier. Meanwhile, Waitrose’s share slipped to 3.91% during the same period, down from 4.02% a year ago. M&S also recorded the highest sales increase among supermarkets during this period, with a year-on-year surge of 11%. Compared to growth rates of 6.9% at Lidl GB, 6.3% at Sainsbury's’s, and 5.8% at Tesco. Meanwhile Waitrose saw a more modest 1% increase, only outpacing Asda and the Co-op. Analysts said the latest Kantar data were a “clear measure of the momentum M&S has”. Last week, the business saw its half-year profits surge as clothing and food sales continued to soar, delivering its fourth consecutive year of market share growth. The retailer said grocery growth was driven by produce, meat and dairy, as well as a strong programme of innovation, and having the “strongest value perception in over a decade”. Profit before tax and adjusting items was up more than 17% for the period, hitting £407.8m. #marksandspencer #waitrose #retail #valuethroughinsight Link to article in comments.

orldpanel by Kantar Irish #grocery data for the 12 weeks to 14/04/24 sees Dunnes Stores retain the top spot with 23.9% market share. Tesco Ireland stay second on 23.0% and SuperValu are third with 20.4%. Lidl Ireland and Aldi Ireland follow in fourth and fifth place with 13.6% and 11.5% respectively. Food inflation is still a factor, sitting at 2.9% in the 12 weeks to 14/04/24. The number is getting smaller every month, but it sits on top of two previous years of inflation, meaning that prices have increased around 25% comparing 2024 with 2021. But bear in mind that shoppers aren’t actually paying 25% more because they have changed their habits, switching into more private label products, buying less overall…and wasting less too. Prices are now beginning to drop though. I monitor a trolley of around 70 high-volume grocery items. It covers the key categories and is mainly private label. The price of that trolley is up 12% versus Sep-22 when I started tracking it. But it’s down -3.1% versus the peak last June. (message me if you want to set up a more detailed debrief). The market share trends are a continuation of previous months. Dunnes, Tesco and Lidl are still gaining share. Tesco stand out for me as they are quietly working away on store revamps, bringing their fresh food to front of store, as well as opening new stores (some of which were ex-Iceland shops).   Aldi’s troubles continue this period. Value and volume sales are in decline and they’ve lost 0.6ppts of share year on year. Their share is actually down 0.4ppts versus April 2019 since which they’ve opened 24 new stores and revamped many more.   SuperValu look to have challenges too. They’re dangerously close to dropping below 20% which is not something we’ve seen since before the SuperQuinn take-over.

𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋 101: Both retailers and restaurants are feeling the pinch of a "more discriminating consumer" especially in lower income households. Couple this with inflationary pressures, and you have companies like McDonald's who reported last week of their first decline in US comp sales (0.7%) since 2Q2020. https://lnkd.in/e8yubyGX Big Lots, who previously reported a decline of 9.9% in comp sales back in June, may now close up to as many as 315 stores which would be about 23% of their total stores. https://lnkd.in/eHWvaryY So, what are comp sales anyway? In the retail world "comp sales" or "comparable sales" (and sometimes also referred to as "same-store sales") is a barometer that retailers and restaurants use to measure a store's current performance relative to a previous period. Comp sales helps these companies to assess the growth or decline of their existing stores. To calculate this, retailers and restaurants identify comparable stores that have been open for at least a year and are a similar size and merchandise mix as the store that is being analyzed. Then, they compare the revenues from the current period to the revenue from a similar period in the past. For example, if a retailer had $2 million in revenue last year and $2.5 million in revenue this year, the calculation would be: ($2.5 million - $2 million) / $2 million = 0.25 or 25% increase in comp store sales #Retail #RetailLasVegas #CompSales #ComparableSales #SaleStoreSales #McDonalds #ROICommercialRealEstate #Retail101

Worldpanel by Kantar Irish grocery data for 12wks to 18/02/24 sees Dunnes stay top on 24.3% market share. Tesco are next on 23.5% with SuperValu 3rd on 20.6% and Lidl Ireland & Aldi Ireland 4th & 5th on 12.8% and 10.9% respectively. Grocery sales grew +5.4% (4wks to 18/02) driven primarily by inflation which was +4.7%. Inflation is ‘declining’ but prices are still +21.1% versus Feb '22 when inflation accelerated after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Shoppers are managing by shopping more frequently and buying more #privatelabel. #PL sales grew +7.5%, winning share from brands. Dunnes, Tesco & Lidl are gaining share thanks to improved store environments (new stores and refits), evocative product & price propositions and loyalty card activity. Dunnes' vouchers are still working despite the shorter redemption period. This might even be a boost as their less frequent shoppers start making a weekly visit. This period included Pancake Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. Dunnes stood out, launching a ‘Fish Festival’ TV ad for Ash Wednesday. Fresh fish is so easy to get wrong in-store. But Dunnes know they have a USP here and it says a lot about their fresh food credentials. SuperValu performance appears to be stabilising. Market share losses are smaller each month but they're still behind the 21.4% share they entered the pandemic with in Feb '20. They're investing in promotions and price cuts and have now overlapped any losses that came from the new loyalty program that switched from a seasonal voucher mail-out to weekly in-app vouchers. Aldi are losing market share, indicating both value and volume decline in the last 12wks. There’s a major push on price cuts and very active marketing currently but I think there are bigger issues at play, as indicated by the fact that Aldi UK failed to grow share in the most recent period despite opening around 25 new stores.   M&S numbers aren’t mentioned in the Kantar data but their 2023 report details marginal growth in food sales, up just 1% despite considerable inflation. Food revenues of €149m would give them about 1% market share. They recently announced two store closures in Drogheda and the IFSC but they’re extremely upbeat with their M&S Private Label food range going into Applegreen forecourt stores nationwide and supply chain improvements giving better availability in their own estate. Next month’s data will include St Patrick’s Day sales which will be interesting to see as folks traditionally start to loosen the purse strings a little.      💡 If you thought this review was useful make sure to connect and follow #supermarketmalachy ✅ I help you achieve profitable growth through #strategy and #negotiationskills #training   #fmcg #strategyconsulting #commercialskills #iplc #uspire #salestraining #privatelabel The Uspire Group #salestraining #supermarkets #waitrose #coop #iceland #ocado #asda #morrisons #tesco #sainsburys International Private Label Consult (IPLC)

UK supermarket sales are slowing down, yet there's a deeper narrative unfolding beneath the surface. Consider this: - Shoppers are spending 6% less per grocery visit. - Promotions now make up 36% of branded sales, an increase from last year. - Online grocery sales have risen by 4.7%. Is this merely tightening one's belt, or are shopping habits evolving? Here's the reality: Ask yourself if UK consumers are cutting back or changing the way they shop. Many are choosing to cook at home more often and they're embracing premium own-brand products to treat themselves. Bear in mind: - Stay attuned to changing consumer behaviour. - Continually assess and adapt to market trends. - Focus on delivering value and quality. When times are changing, understanding customers' needs is more important than ever. How do you think UK supermarket retailers will respond to these emerging consumer trends? Thanks to Dayeeta Das and NIQ Brandbank for providing these insights. According to this article from ESM - European Supermarket Magazine, companies like Ocado Group, Lidl GB, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, and Morrisons, and Sainsbury's are all showing notable performance in the current market, but why? #ConsumerBehaviour #RetailTrends #UKSupermarkets #BusinessGrowth #CustomerExperience