Morrisons the only major supermarket to increase sales in January
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Version 0 of 1. Morrisons was the only one of the UK’s major supermarkets to achieve sales growth in January as discounters continue to stir up the grocery market. The Bradford-based chain managed to increase sales in the four weeks to 31 January by attracting new shoppers and persuading them to spend more, according to data from market-tracking agency Nielsen. Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight, did not reveal the scale of sales growth at Morrisons, but suggested the chain was benefiting from the launch of its Match & More loyalty card scheme last year. Asda was the worst performing supermarket over the 12 weeks, with sales down 1.9% according to Nielsen, whose figures echo data released by Kantar earlier this week. Morrisons’ sales fell just 0.2% over the quarter, making it the best performer of the big four, while Sainsbury’s sales were down 1.6%. Tesco’s sales fell 1.2%, a marked contrast to the 0.3% rise in sales indicated by Kantar, which said the chain had enjoyed its first sales growth in a year. The rise in sales for Morrisons in the last month of that period comes too late for outgoing chief executive Dalton Philips, who exits the company on Monday. Related: Morrisons CEO prepares to exit as retailer steps up search for replacement But analysts warned that Morrisons’ performance only looked relatively good in January because it was set against very poor trading last year. Bruno Monteyne at Bernstein Research said if that effect was taken into account, Morrisons still lagged behind its rivals despite being 11 months into its new strategy. “That goes some way to explain the management changes last month and why we believe further investment in the proposition is needed to improve trading during this year,” he wrote. Morrisons’ new chairman Andy Higginson is thought to be close to appointing a new boss for the supermarket chain as it battles to cope with the rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl, and an apparent revival at the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco. The two German chains now control more than 10% of the grocery market, according to data from Nielsen, as they continue to enjoy double-digit sales growth while their bigger rivals shrink. “The 10% market share for discounters has not been seen since the heyday of Kwik Save some 15 years ago,” said Watkins. “Initially built on the premise of saving money, the new wave of discounters are now a regular part of grocery shopping and have changed shopping habits forever.” Watkins said switching to cheaper grocery brands had emerged as shoppers’ prime tactic for saving money in a survey conducted by Nielsen in the last quarter of 2014. Nielsen’s figures show a fall in sales at all “big four” supermarkets in the 12 weeks to 31 January, as they battled against changing habits by cutting prices. While there was a 1.7% rise in the number of items bought at Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, the value of sales fell 0.1%. |