Sainsbury’s has reclaimed its position as the UK’s second-largest supermarket, a decade after falling behind Asda.
The supermarket controlled 16.6% of the grocery market in the 12 weeks to October 12, up from 16.4% a year before, according to figures from market research company Nielsen. That gives it a 0.2% percentage point lead over its rival, owned by US retailer Walmart. However, Sainsbury’s remains well behind Tesco, which has 29.5% of the market.
The change in lineup comes after months of strong growth at Sainsbury’s which benefited from a focus on quality food and ethical standards that helped keep it out of the horsemeat scandal.
Tesco, Asda and Morrisons have all been losing market share to Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, where shoppers turned amid concerns about the provenance of food, while discounters Aldi and Lidl have also been growing rapidly as cash-strapped consumers try to save money.
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Sainsbury’s market position has also been boosted by a change in the way that Nielsen calculates market share to take more of an account of online and convenience store sales.
Date: October 25, 2013