Dunnes Stores now has 22% of the grocery market share but Tesco still holds the top spot when it comes to market share, the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel show.
The figures also show that shoppers in Dunnes Stores put five more items in their basket than shoppers in other supermarkets.
Dunnes has grown its sales by 6.3% in the past 12 weeks ending June 21, to reach a market share of 22.2%, up from 21% in the same period last year, it says.
Only Lidl outperformed Dunnes in sales with market leading growth in sales of 6.4%, it says.
Tesco remains the number one retailer in Ireland with 25.2% of the market share, despite a drop in sales of 3.3%, the Kantar figures show.
Supervalu sales grew just behind the market at 0.6% and share remained flat at 24.7%, Kantar says.
Some 19,000 fewer shoppers visited the retailer than over the same period last year and those that remained were more frequent but lighter shoppers, visiting Supervalu more often but picking up fewer items on each trip, Kantar says.
Aldi and Lidl have continued to recruit shoppers to their stores and household penetration is now at 63.1% and 65.1% respectively – ahead of Dunnes’ 63%, it says.
While the German discounters have increased the number of shoppers coming through their doors, their growth in shopper numbers is slowing, Kantar says.
Overall, the supermarket share figures from Kantar show a year-on-year growth in sales of 0.9% across the market.
Cliona Lynch, Insight Manager at Kantar Worldpanel, says that Dunnes’ continued focus on its ‘Shop and Save’ voucher scheme is encouraging consumers to buy a bigger basket on each shop.
The average Dunnes visitor is buying 18 items per trip compared with a market average of 13 – an increase of three items per basket on this time last year and an additional €5.00 through the tills on each shop.
Lynch says that as the discounters become more established in the market, year-on-year growth is harder to win.
“While both Aldi and Lidl are still seeing a strong performance and gains in market share, the landscape is becoming more competitive.
“The impact of Dunnes’ vouchering campaign has given it a strong boost this period. Elsewhere, Supervalu remains a steady challenger for the number one spot but Tesco’s plans to turn around performance could yet help it to regain growth and firmly re-establish its lead,” she says.