Market share dips despite Tesco’s cuts

Tesco has lost market share to its rivals after launching a £500 million price-cutting campaign in October, industry figures yesterday revealed.

Kantar Worldpanel said the supermarket giant had slipped from 30.7 per cent a year ago to 30.5 per cent while its 3.8 per cent growth rate fell behind rivals, according to data for the 12 weeks to 27 November.

Tesco’s “Big Price Drop” initiative triggered an aggressive response as competitors hit back with their own schemes, such as Sainsbury’s Brand Match campaign and Asda’s move to bring petrol prices down.

Kantar said that while Tesco was the only supermarket chain among the big four to see its market share fall on a year earlier, its price-cutting campaign was likely to have brought in more shoppers.

Edward Garner, director at Kantar, said: “With more products available for less, the amount of cash taken at the tills has understandably dropped. Despite this, Tesco has successfully attracted more shoppers to its stores through the promotion.”

Asda was the best performer of the largest four grocers, with sales up 5.3 per cent, its strongest growth since December 2009 as the integration of the UK Netto stores is completed.

Morrisons continued its positive run, seeing its share rise from 11.8 per cent a year ago to 12.1 per cent. Sainsbury’s maintained its 16.4 per cent market share.