The size of the Irish grocery market increased by 1.2% in sales terms but retailers continue to battle it out to entice shoppers to their stores. The most recent set of figures from Kantar Worldpanel shows there are clear signs that the grocery market is improving along in line with the overall economy.

On average, consumers increased their grocery spending by €5 in the latest period, which is a combination of more trips and greater volumes into their trolleys.

While all other retailers saw their sales grow compared to the same period last year, Tesco's struggles continue as more shoppers abandon the giant retailer. Market share has fallen from 26% to 25.2% since this time last year. Tesco's sales have fallen by 2.1%. Dunnes saw its sales grow 1.7%, while Aldi and Lidl saw their sales grow by 11.5% and 12.5% respectively. The German discounters now have a combined 15.4% of the market.

Supervalu with 24.9% market share is now only 0.3 percentage points behind Tesco. However in a market worth €9bn this amounts to a sales difference of about €27m.