Irish consumers celebrate as Ireland brings home Olympic golds

Take-home grocery sales increased by 7% in the four weeks to 4 August 2024, according to the latest data from Kantar. During the thrilling weeks of sport leading up to early August, which included the Olympic Games in Paris and the All-Ireland finals, shopping frequency rose by 4.7%, along with an increase in average prices of 2.9%. However, the number of packs per shopping trip fell by 2.4% compared to last year, as shoppers continue to shop little and often.

The latest 12-week period to 4 August saw another small rise in grocery inflation levels after 15 months of consistent decline, and now sits at 2.8%. However, this is still the lowest inflation level since March 2022, and down a massive 9.7% compared to August 2023.

Although grocery inflation is lower now, shoppers are still looking for value in the market and spending on promotions rose by 10.8% compared to the same time last year, with 24.5% of all value sales going through on promotion. Shoppers will always look for the best value and make the most of the wide range of promotions offered by retailers to help manage household costs.

Own label ranges are also encouraging Irish shoppers into supermarkets. Consumers spent an additional €59.2 million year-on-year on own label products helping to grow the market by 4%. Premium ranges performed strongly, up 9.4% compared to the same time last year, with shoppers spending an additional €13.5 million on these products. Brands grew ahead of the total market up 7.7%, with shoppers spending an additional €111 million on branded products versus last year. 

Going for gold – or at least a glass or two

Despite ongoing financial pressures on consumers, this month gave us a reason to celebrate. While we enjoyed some long-awaited good weather, we also cheered on our Olympic athletes. Bringing home four gold medals and with our best games ever, it gave us a reason to raise a glass or two and enjoy the sporting spectacle, with shoppers spending an additional €8 million on alcohol and €5 million on take-home confectionery and savouries combined.

Irish shoppers also enjoyed their BBQs spending an additional €367k on sausages and burgers and grills, €254k on ice cream and €416k on mineral water compared to July 2024. With back-to-school looming, some lunchbox staples also saw growth over the last month, with cheese, bread and morning goods up 5.6%, 3.8% and 3.3% respectively. 

Irish retailer performance update

Online sales were up 11.5% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €18.9 million on the platform. With a boost in frequency and new shoppers, online saw an additional €14.4 million in spend. 

Tesco holds 23.3% of the market, up 8.6% year-on-year. Tesco’s growth stems mainly from more frequent trips contributing an additional €36.3 million to overall performance year-on-year. Dunnes hold 23.2% market share with growth of 8.3% year-on-year. Dunnes growth stems mainly from more frequent, up 6.2% year-on-year, which contributed an additional €43.2 million to overall performance. 

SuperValu holds 20.2% of the market with growth of 2.4%. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in store when compared to all retailers, an average of 21.9 trips a year.

Lidl holds 13.8% share with growth of 5.4% year on year. More frequent trips contributed an additional €35.2 million to overall performance. Aldi holds 12% market share growing 0.6% year on year. More frequent trips contributed an additional €6.9 million to its overall performance.