London Olympic Games Anticipation Sparks Supermarket Sales

Contact: Neil Beston, Tel: 020 3103 3959

London, Thursday 10 August 2012 – A brief spell of warm weather and the lead up to the London 2012 Olympics provided a welcome boost to grocery retailers at the end of July, after a rather subdued performance during the rest of the month.

Aggregate sales growth for the UK’s leading supermarkets across the four weeks ending 21 July was just +1.8%* while unit sales declined by -0.2%*compared to the same period a year ago - according to the latest UK retailer performance figures released today by global information and insights company Nielsen.

However, aggregate sales growth in the last week of that reporting period – week ending 21 July – did improve by +2.3%* year-on-year. Furthermore, the following week (ending 28 July) saw a +4.1%* year-on-year growth due to the warm weather and lead up to the London 2012 Olympics.

July was also characterised by the continued slowing of food inflation – down to +3.1%** from +3.5% in June – while the discounters continued to gain market share. Over the last 12 weeks, competition has intensified among the Big Four supermarkets with vouchers and coupons now being used by nearly all supermarkets.

Explaining the figures, Nielsen senior manager for retailer services Mike Watkins: “The cold and wet weather in early July, combined with the absence of a mid-July major event, resulted in weaker sales growths. This was compounded by shoppers remaining fickle and chasing bargains – shopping tactically to benefit from retailer giveaways. However, with sales growths improving in the last two weeks of July, due to the warmer weather and the start of the London 2012 Olympics, it’s hoped that the much-awaited turning point of the year has finally been reached.”

When looking at the individual grocery retailers, Watkins notes: “The last four weeks have seen Asda's previously-impressive growth slowing to +3.2%, as the first anniversary marking the conversion of most of its acquired Netto stores to Asda approaches. Meanwhile, Tesco’s sales growths improved to +3.7% on the back of initiatives that included ‘Spend £50; get 5p off a litre of fuel’, which helped attract more shoppers in-store.”

* Source: Nielsen Scantrack Grocery Multiples

** Source: BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index, July

12-Weekly % Share of grocery market spend by retailer and value sales % change
Retailer	% share, 12 weeks to 21 Jul 2012	% share, 12 weeks to 23 Jul 2011	% value change vs same 12 Weeks Year Ago
TESCO	29.2%	29.2%	4.1%
ASDA	16.1%	15.9%	5.9%
SAINSBURY	15.8%	15.8%	3.9%
MORRISONS	11.1%	11.3%	2.0%
CO-OPERATIVE	7.3%	7.6%	1.0%
WAITROSE	4.2%	4.1%	8.0%
M&S	3.5%	3.5%	4.2%
ALDI	2.4%	1.8%	41.9%
LIDL	1.9%	1.8%	9.3%
ICELAND	1.9%	2.0%	1.7%

The figures in the table are based on 12 weeks sales through to 21 July 2012 compared with the same 12 week period in 2011. Source: Nielsen Total Till, Nielsen Homescan

About Nielsen Homescan Total Till:
Unless otherwise stated, data is based on all purchases, bar-coded and non bar-coded, brought back into the home from any outlet by an in-home scanning panel of more than 14,500 households. Total spend includes all items stocked by any outlet, including grocery, general merchandise and clothing.

About Nielsen
Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.