BWS back in growth in UK retail

UK retail sales of beer, wine and spirits are back in growth, according to the latest data from Nielsen IQ, which shows a 7.3% boost in the four weeks to 27th January 2024. 

Till sales across the UK retail channel saw a boost overall on the back of a slow down in food inflation, NIQ said, with January seeing its lowest rate since June 2022, at 6.1%. The data showed that shopper behaviour was “normalising” as inflationary pressures reduced. Post-Christmas grocery shopping for example saw a 1.3% volume growth compared to last year, then inflation was in double-digits.

Unsurprisingly, promotional activity was also down in the post-Christmas period, down from 26% to 23%, it noted.

Meanwhile sales of grocery online channel maintained its share of growth for the second month in a row, which at +6.8%, was ahead of in-store growth (+5.3%).

Mike Watkins, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said that shopping visits had increased in January, buoyed by the return of smaller baskets replacing the big trolley spends of December. “In addition, many households were moderating spend as paying off Christmas bills takes priority. To put this in context shoppers spent 24% less on Food & Drink in January compared to December,” he said. “As we look ahead and sentiments and shopper behaviour change, we expect to see the trend of managing overall basket spend continue even as inflation continues to slow, with Easter and warmer weather in spring giving the next boost to FMCG spend.”

Meanwhile, discounter growth had fallen from the “unsustainable” 20% of the early cost-of-living squeeze, down to 10%.

“This level of growth was not sustainable, so it’s no surprise to see growths back to 10% over the last 12 weeks given the slowdown in inflation,” Watkins added.

Lidl proved to be the best performing retailer overall in the last 12 weeks, rising 13.2%, followed by M&S (+11.6%) and Ocado (+11.3%)  with Sainsbury’s also up (8.4%), ahead of Tesco (+6.9%).

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