Grocery market grows at weak pace ahead of Christmas
The grocery sector has grown at the slowest rate in nine months despite retailers and shoppers getting into the Christmas spirit, according to new market share figures.
According to Kantar Worldpanel, for the 12-week period ending December 2nd, the UK grocery sector grew two per cent – the slowest growth rate since March this year. Separate figures from Nielsen also indicated that sales momentum remained weak across the grocery industry, with headline growth of 2.3 per cent for the four-week period ending December 1st.
However, both Nielsen and Kantar predicted record sales for the peak Christmas trading season, which it attributed to the way Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday.
“The last time Christmas Day fell on a Tuesday was in 2012 and the Saturday before was the busiest shopping day of the year,” Kantar head of retail insight Fraser McKevitt said.
“We expect the same trend to hold true this year, with Saturday 22 December pulling in the last-minute Christmas crowds.”
Source: https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2018/12/grocery-market-grows-at-weak-pace-ahead-of-christmas/


