By Michael Susin


U.K. grocery-price inflation continued to lose steam in April, posting its 14th monthly drop in a row as retailers spent on promotions and deals to attract customers, market-research firm Kantar said in a report.

Annual grocery inflation slowed to 3.2% for the four weeks to April 14 compared with 4.5% in March, continuing its retreat from the record high of 17% in March of last year, according to the report published Tuesday.

The drop was helped by promotions, with items bought on special offers accounting for 29% of supermarket sales, the highest level outside of the Christmas period since June 2021, the report showed.

"We've been monitoring steady annual growth in promotions over the past 11 months as retailers respond to consumers' desire for value. Deals helped shoppers save a massive 1.3 billion pounds [$1.61 billion] in the latest four weeks, almost GBP46 per household," Kantar head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt, said.

"This emphasis on offers, coupled with falling prices in some categories like toilet tissues, butter and milk, has helped to bring the rate of grocery inflation down for shoppers at the till," he added.

Ocado continued to be the fastest-growing retailer, with sales up by 12.5% in the 12 weeks to April 14, outstripping the online market, which grew by 6.8%.

Sales at the U.K.'s largest retailer, Tesco, grew by 5.9% in the period. It now has a market share of 27.4%, while Sainsbury's sales rose by 6.8% and its market share stood at 15.3%.

German discounter Lidl achieved a record 8.0% share of the market, supported by sales growth of 9.1%. Peer Aldi reclaimed the 10.0% market share it last held in September 2023, with sales rising by 2.8%, the report said.


Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-23-24 0418ET