Data: Price wars drive growth at Tesco and Sainsbury’s

Price wars between the UK’s major supermarkets helped boost sales at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, according to the latest data from Kantar.

Sales at Tesco jumped 5.9% in the 12 weeks to 18 May, increasing its market share 0.4 percentage points to 28%.

This is almost double that of Sainsbury’s, whose market share remained flat at 15.1% as sales rose 4.7%.

Competition in the grocery sector intensified earlier this year, when Asda signalled the start of a potential price war in a bid to revive its ailing fortunes.

The UK’s third biggest grocer softened its sales decline to -3.2%. Its market share for the period slid to 12.1%, down from the 13% it held last year.

Meanwhile discounters Lidl and Aldi quickly gained pace, with the pair achieving their strongest combined growth since January 2024.

Lidl reached a new share high of 8.1%, with sales up by 10.9%, as it welcomed 419,000 extra shoppers through its doors compared to last year – the most of any retailer.

Aldi’s hold of the market also reached a record high at 11.1%, with sales rising by 6.7%, its fastest growth rate since the start of last year.

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