With high grocery prices and rising household costs, promotional sales have increased and own range sales have jumped this year, according to latest Irish grocery data from Kantar.

Take-home value sales in Ireland increased by 3.4% over the four weeks to 23 March, 2025 compared to the same period last year. This is the slowest market growth rate since November 2022.

Business development director at Kantar, Emer Healy said that the continued rise in average prices (up 3.8% year-on-year), is "contributing to a slowdown in sales".

"With a combination of higher grocery prices and rising household costs, supermarkets are focusing on promotions to attract shoppers both in-store and online," Healy said.

Promotional sales increased in the past 12 weeks, with shoppers spending an additional €99 million on promotional lines compared to the same period last year.

Alongside promotional activities, retailers are also "pushing" own range products as an alternative to brands.

"As a result, own label sales have jumped compared to last year by 4.5% with shoppers spending an additional €71.9 million on these ranges, accounting for 47.6% of all value sales," Healy said.

While own range products gain popularity, brands also remain popular with Irish shoppers, growing 4.5% compared to the same period last year and representing 47% of the total value market share.

St Patrick’s Day and Shrove Tuesday helped boost seasonal sales in Ireland, with shoppers spending an additional €6.8 million on beer, spirits and wine combined, along with an extra €590,000 on hot cross buns, pancakes, sugar, and sweet spreads, compared to last year.

Sales of fish were also up as shoppers spent an additional €930,000 on fresh fish and ready meals combined.

Online sales rose 10.8% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €20.8 million through this channel.

Over the 12-week period, shoppers purchased their groceries more often online, up 11.4%.

Over the past 12 weeks, Dunnes held 24.4% market share, with sales growth of 6% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Dunnes shoppers picked up more volume per trip, with the strongest increase compared to the other retailers, up 1.9% compared to last year.

Tesco holds 23.2% of the market, with value growth of 6% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their trips to store, which contributed €33.6 million to overall performance.

SuperValu holds 20.2% of the market with growth of 5.4%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 24.5 trips over the past 12 weeks.

Lidl holds 13.5% market share, up 4.7%. Larger trips drove an additional €3.3 million in sales.

Aldi holds 11.6% market share, up 4.9%. Increased trips to store drove an additional €13.9 million in sales.