With falling inflation, heated football fever from the men’s Euros tournament, and increasing fake tan sales, supermarket sales in the UK have increased in recent times. Wet weather hardly dampened the improved consumer confidence, making its mark on high-street spending.

Recently, falling inflation, football fever, and fake tan all combined to give supermarket sales in the UK a boost. Falling inflation encouraged people to be more confident about opening their purses, despite the weather remaining just that little bit gloomy.

The supermarket sales were 2.2% higher than in the same four-week period in 2019, with activity largely being seen at the very beginning of 2020 right before the lockdown. The fans have contributed substantially since football supporters bought a lot of beers and crisps to consume while watching the men’s Euros tournament.

Inflation and Consumer Spending:
Grocery price inflation has ebbed to 1.6% in the month from 2.1% in June – the lowest rate since September 2021. More people were going to supermarkets as prices at the tills were lower, with 2% more trips than this time last year.

“Even though England lost to Spain in the Euros final, there was still some good news for supermarkets. Football fans bought 13% more beer on the days England played compared to other days,” said Fraser McKevitt, a man at Kantar, who researches supermarket trends.

Many of the games that England competed in were on “school nights,” so the fans did not want to have a lot of alcohol going through their system. They turned to “no” or “low” alcohol brews. Sales of those drinks would increase 38 percent on match days.
The rainy weather made people buy more of it: artificial tan sales increased by 16%. Another upsurge was seen in the sales for cold and flu medicines, which were high by 35%. However, the demand for sun creams went down by 10% as the last year’s weather wasn’t so sunny.

People turned to less expensive supermarket own-label products at the height of the cost of living crisis. They have been reverting from here. Branded products have recorded a 3.6% gain in sales compared to the 2.7% rise in sales of own-label groceries.

Changes in Shopping Habits:
“How we shop has changed a lot since 2010. We buy more popcorn, peanut butter, and chilled vegetarian products like sausages and grills. And we have switched to premium ground and bean coffee,” she announced, ahead of the King’s Speech next Wednesday due to outline the government’s plans for the country’s different sectors, including groceries.
The fasting-growing supermarket for the fifth consecutive month belonged to online grocer Ocado, which posted a sales growth of 10.7% in the 12 weeks ending July 7. Its market share rose to 1.8%.

Lidl, the no-frills supermarket chain, enjoyed a 7.8% rise in sales, lifting its market share to 8.1%. Aldi holds 10% of the market, with sales rising
Upmarket Waitrose won market share for the first time since January 2022, its share up by 0.1 percentage points to 4.5 per cent, while spending at Waitrose grew by 3.3 per cent.

The country’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, notched up its biggest market share rise since November 2021. Its market share came in at 27.7 per cent, a rise of 0.7 percentage points compared with a year ago.

Looking Ahead:
This should further boost supermarket sales as consumer confidence continues to grow and the rate of inflation falls.

Other influences of spending habits are excitement around events such as the Euros and shopping trends.

What do you think is going to be the new big trend in grocery shopping? Will weather go on affecting what people are buying? How will the supermarkets keep up with these changes?