Waitrose has grown its market share for the first time in two years as investments into its food range pay off.
Kantar’s supermarket share and inflation update showed that spending at the upmarket grocer edged up 3.3%, helping to lift its market share by 0.1 percentage point to 4.5%.
It is the first time Waitrose has experienced an increase in its market share since January 2022 and comes after the retailer has made several investments into strengthening its food offer, including relaunching its premium No1 range.
Waitrose chair Sharon White insisted last month that the retailer was “back on track” and that the convenience sector was a top expansion priority for the upmarket grocer.
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Elsewhere, Kantar’s data revealed that Ocado maintained its crown as the fastest growing grocer for the fifth month in a row, as its sales jumped 10.7% over the 12 weeks to 7 July.
Tesco also achieved its biggest share gain since November 2021, taking 27.7% of the market and representing a 0.7 percentage point increase compared to the previous year.
Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “We’re still waiting for the great British summer to break through the clouds, and we’re seeing the effects of that in our shopping baskets.
“Over the past three months, sales of cold and flu treatments jumped by 35%, while sun cream dipped by 10% compared with last year, when we were enjoying the warmest June on record. Some shoppers aren’t letting the disappointing weather dull their glow, however, pushing up sales of artificial tan by 16%.
“The retail landscape looks very different from 2010 when the last Labour government was in power – and so do our shopping trolleys,” he adds, explaining that we’re more likely to buy premium ground and bean coffee.
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