Irish shoppers are spending more money in supermarkets even as average grocery prices fall.
The latest grocery market share figures from research company Kanter Worldpanel show spend rose by 2.2% over the 12 weeks to May 21 to €2.37 billion.
That's €50m higher than in the same period last year. Analysis of 30,000 items monitored by Kantar shows the average price of popular items fell by 0.2% year-on-year.
Kantar Worldpanel director David Berry said spend as risen as shoppers fill their baskets with extra items even as average prices are falling. "Retailers' own brands continue to lead the way, growing sales by 3.8% and accounting for 54% of grocery purchasing," he said.
SuperValu remains the most popular chain here with a 22.5% share of the grocery market. Tesco has re-taken second place from Dunnes. Dunnes is the only one of the top three chains, however, to have grown its share of the market compared to May last year. Its share has risen from 21.3% to 21.9% over that period.
This is despite the number of consumers visiting Dunnes actually falling, according to Mr Berry. "The retailer had 54,000 fewer shoppers during the past 12 weeks. However this has been offset by an impressive spending increase among remaining customers, with Dunnes shoppers spending 10% more - €47 extra on average - with the grocer during the latest quarter," he said.
