By Ian Walker
LONDON--J. Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN) was the clear winner out of
the top four supermarkets in the latest 12 weeks, leapfrogging Asda
to become the second largest grocer by market share for the first
time in over a decade, according to a survey Tuesday.
"Sainsbury's traditionally performs well at Christmas, and its
seasonal boost this year means it is now Britain's second largest
grocer for the first time since it lost the position in 2003,"
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar
Worldpanel said. However, he said that given the seasonal nature of
this share increase, there is a high likelihood Asda will retake
the number two spot later in the year.
Sales at Sainsbury fell just 0.7% in the 12 weeks ended Jan. 4,
compared with Tesco PLC's (TSCO.LN)'s 1.2%. Sales at both Asda, a
subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), and Wm Morrisons
Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) fell 1.6% over the period.
Competition between the grocers has been fierce and there is now
a gap of just 0.5% sales growth separating the four largest
retailers. Such a tightly fought race is unprecedented in records
dating back to 1994, according to Kantar.
Sainsbury now has a 16.9% market share, according to Kantar,
which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000
demographically representative households in the U.K., compared
with 17.1% in the 12 weeks ended Jan. 5, 2014. Tesco's market share
has fallen to 29.1%, from 29.6%, while Asda's share has fallen to
16.8%, from 17.1%.
Wm Morrisons Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) market share fell to
11.3%, from 11.5%.
Outside the top four German discounters Aldi and Lidl saw their
market combined share rise to 8.3%, from 7.1%, while up-market
retailer Waitrose' market share rose to 5.1%, from 4.8%.
"Shoppers were the big winners at Christmas with cheaper grocery
prices encouraging them to spend more at the tills. Like-for-like
prices have fallen by 0.9% due to lower commodity costs and an
ongoing price war which has continued as the large retailers battle
for market share," Mr. McKevitt said.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
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