Sainsbury’s results: 3 things we learned about UK groceries

The second biggest grocer in the UK, Sainsbury’s, reported recently their preliminary results of the last year (ended 5.3.2022). The report included lots of interesting information about Sainsbury’s and the UK grocery retail industry.

Here are three most interesting things to highlight from the report.

Discounters are winning over the Big 4

The pandemic disrupted the growth of Aldi and Lidl and boosted the sales of the Big 4, especially online. However, as the pandemic fades away, discounters have started to grow. Inflationary pressures most likely will accelerate this process.

Online remains high

The online sales that jumped in the spring of 2020, have declined slightly, but remained on a heightened level. The weekly orders of online are almost double to two years ago.

Sainsbury’s also claims it has been one of the biggest winners in the surge of online groceries. It has increased it’s online market share 2,5%-points. Only Morrisons has grown more (3,9%-points). Ocado has the biggest loser during the Covid online boom. It has lost almost 4%-points of market share.

Convenience grows with the on-demand deliveries

Convenience sector was hit hard by the pandemic. As the society has opened up, also the convenience stores have started to gain lost sales. This has been more rapid in the less urban areas.

However, the most interesting aspect of the convenience sector is the fact that the store based sales are still -1% compared to the pre-pandemic levels. The emergence of the On Demand deliveries (Chop Chop, Deliveroo & Uber Eats) from the convenience stores has enabled the convenience sector to grow as a whole.