Aldi, Waitrose Market Shares at Record Levels, Tesco's Lowest Since 2004 - Kantar

By Ian Walker

LONDON--Discount retailer Aldi and upmarket chain Waitrose both showed record market shares in the latest data Tuesday, while former darling of the sector Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) saw its share fall to its lowest level since late 2004 in an increasingly cut-throat environment.

Tesco's market share dropped to 28.7% in the 12 weeks ended March 2, from 29.6% in the year-earlier period, according to Kantar, which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K.

Aldi's market share for the 12 weeks rose to 4.3%, compared with 3.3% in the 12 weeks ended March 3 2013. Waitrose's market share rose to 5.0% from 4.9%.

Lidl maintained its record 3.2% share, achieved in the previous 12 weeks ended Feb. 2, and was up from 2.8% in the comparable period last year.

"Over the past three years Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl have taken a combined 3.5 share points from the competition, which equates to 4.4 billion pounds ($7.34 billion) per year," said Chris Longbottom, director at Kantar Worldpanel.

"This has put pressure on the big four supermarkets to compete for a shrinking middle ground and cut prices to directly combat the discounters," Mr. Longbottom added.

J. Sainsbury PLC's (SBRY.LN) market share was unchanged at 17% in the 12 weeks ended March 2, while Asda, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), saw its market share fall to 17.5% from 17.8%. Wm Morrisons Supermarkets PLC's (MRW.LN) market share fell to 11.1% from 11.8% a year earlier.

Earlier Tuesday, the British Retail Consortium reported a fall in consumer spending in February after inclement weather damped sentiment following a bumper rise in January.

Total retail sales grew 0.7% on the year in February, down from January's 5.4% surge. Same-store sales--which don't measure sales at stores open for less than a year--fell 1.0% over the same period. In January same-store sales increased 3.9%.

Write to Ian Walker at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires