The Worldpanel by Numerator grocery market data for the four weeks to 25 January shows a 5% increase in sales in the period.

Grocery prices were 6.8% higher than a year ago, with inflation accelerating from December’s 6.25%.

Business development director at Worldpanel by Numerator Emer Healy highlighted that price increases remain a central concern for shoppers.

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“Our latest pressure group study reveals that more shoppers in Ireland are finding the current economic climate tough, with 31% feeling that they are struggling to make ends meet.

"This is no surprise: rising grocery inflation means that consumers are increasingly feeling the pinch,” Healy said.

Trends

When it came to shopping trends in the period, consumer preferences for branded products remained in place despite the high inflation.

Supermarket own-label products accounted for 43.4% of grocery spending during the period.

While there was an increase in spending on meat alternatives during the annual veganuary promotion, it amounted to less than €1m more than was spent last year.

Looking at the multiples, Dunnes remains in the number one spot with 24.8% of the market, with Tesco a close second at 24.4%.

Lidl and Aldi had 13.2% and 10.4% market share respectively.

Online sales continued to expand, increasing by 7% from a year ago to account for 5.8% of total grocery spending.