More and more and Irish shoppers are now doing their grocery shopping in Supervalu and Lidl, a recent survey carried out by the Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland has shown.

According to market research for the 12 weeks ending May 22, the Irish grocery market has show a strong sales boost, with sales increasing by 4% compared to last year.

However, David Berry, Director at Kantar Worldpanel said that only two retailers performed ahead of the market in May. These are Lidl and Supervalu.

“Lidl continues to post impressive sales growth as more consumers choose to shop with the retailer – a record 72.4% of all Irish households shopped in a Lidl store in the last quarter,” Berry said.

The increased footfall through Lidl stores means that the gap between it and its nearest rival discounter Aldi has widened, he said.

Berry also said that Dunnes Stores has posted 8% higher sales over the past 12 weeks, as shoppers continue to up their spend with the retailer.

The average spend at Dunnes is now €37.20, compared to a national average of €21.80.

“Sales first began to grow at Dunnes in January 2014, meaning that the retailer has now enjoyed 19 periods of constant sales growth,” he said.

Shoppers make four more trips to the supermarket

Berry also said that consumers are making more frequent visits to supermarkets, averaging an additional four trips and this is helping to drive volume growth across the market.

Coupled with increased prices this means that the average household is spending an additional €50 on groceries this year, amounting to an extra €89m for the market.

“Each of Ireland’s five main retailers has seen sales either flat or growing on the year prior this period.

“At Tesco, sales remain in line with last year, with market share just 0.3% behind Supervalu at 22.4%.

“Tesco has managed to recruit an additional 10,000 shoppers on last year, with more than 80% of households visiting one of its stores in the latest 12 weeks.

Berry said that this is the first growth in footfall for Tesco in 10 periods, suggesting its investment in keeping prices down may be starting to pay off.

The Kantar Worldpanel Director added that Supervalu remains in a positive position, with sales increasing by nearly 3% on last year.

“This has enabled the retailer to maintain number one position in Ireland for the eighth month in a row, with a 22.7% share of the market, he said.

However, he said that Supervalu’s share of the market has declined by 0.2% compared to the same time in 2015.

Meanwhile, sales growth for Aldi stands at 2.4% in the latest quarter, he said, a positive step up from the previous results.

He added that this may be a sign that sales growth for the German-based retailer may be starting to improve.