Symbols and independents saw a 1.3% fall in sales year on year in October. This comes despite Kantar’s latest data showing October was the best performing month for sales across all grocers this year.

This has followed more than six months of consecutive decline for the symbols and independents sector. There was a recorded drop of 1.2% share year on year for the month of September.

Meanwhile, take-home sales across all grocers increased by 2.3% in the four weeks to 3 November 2024 to reach £11.6bn, making it the biggest sales month of the year, according to Kantar.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “October 2024 was the busiest month for the supermarkets since March 2020, when people were preparing for the first national lockdown.  Trip numbers have been going up gradually for some time, but this steady march hasn’t reached pre-Covid levels of shopping frequency just yet.  The average for each household is slightly over four trips per week.”

Co-op also witnessed a drop of 2.1% in sales growth, as did major supermarket Asda (5.5%). Aside from this, other grocers saw a boost in growth.

Symbols and indies see sales decline continue as online shopping thrives

Grocery price inflation was 2.3% this October, up slightly on September’s figure but still within typical levels, according to Kantar. The rate has now been below 3.0% every month since the early summer.

The data insight company added that promotional activity by the grocers is helping to keep prices down and supporting sales of branded goods in particular.

McKevitt added: “Spending on deals has been going up consistently for the past 18 months and it now makes up 28.6% of all sales.  Offers are helping to lift branded sales especially.  The growth gap between brands and own-label is the biggest it’s been since February 2021, sitting at 4.9% and 2.7% apiece.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on those numbers to see whether the gap continues to widen in the run up to Christmas.”   

Online shopping continues to top the growth table, with Ocado boosting its sales by 9.5% over the 12 weeks to 3 November 2024. This was followed by discounter Lidl, with sales up 7.4%.

McKevitt added that the bigger-than-usual number of sales could be due to customers stocking up for Christmas.

He said: “Some people think Christmas ads hit our screens too soon but it’s clearly important for retailers to set out their stalls early: 648,000 shoppers have already bought a Christmas cake, while 14.4% of households picked up mince pies in October.”

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