Ireland’s most popular supermarket has been revealed as Tesco and Dunnes stores vie for second place

The latest research from Kantar shows Irish grocery market sales are down 2.3% as the country continues to reopen and people return to pre-pandemic measures.

However, sales remained 11.1% higher compared to the same period in 2019.

Dennis stores saw the largest influx of new shoppers as it grew by 5.3%, contributing €32 million to its sales.

Dunnes is now tied to Tesco for the title of second-largest grocer, with both holding a 21.4% market share this period.

Tesco gained 0.4 percentage points in stock and was particularly successful in brand growth, which grew 2.9% to counteract the overall market decline in brand sales this period.

Aldi celebrated the end of this period with the highest market share of 12.7%.

It has gained a large number of new shoppers over the past three months, increasing its sales by 1.6 million euros year on year.

Meanwhile, Lidl captured a market share of 12.8% during this period.

SuperValu has been named the largest retailer in the country and holds 22.5% of the market.

This helped consumers who visited the store 7% more than they did last year, the highest rate of repeat shoppers among all retailers, giving them an increase in sales of 43 million euros.

Emyr Healy, Kantar Retail Analyst, said: “While we are a long way from a full return to normalcy, there is a wind of change and people are more comfortable getting out and about.

“An additional 189,000 trips have been made to the supermarket over the past three months, driven by shoppers who ran out of buying an item or two at a time rather than relying on a weekly supermarket as they did during the height of the shutdowns.

« It indicates that high vaccination levels across the country are helping boost consumer confidence. »

« We are also seeing shoppers choosing to visit larger stores rather than smaller retailers on their doorstep. This has been good news for Ireland’s largest grocers as all the Big Five have gained market share this period for the first time since 2010. »

Ms. Healy also explains how online shopping has been affected by the reopening.

She said: “Online groceries have taken a back seat this month as people return to workplaces, teach and eat out.

As a result, digital grocery stores have shrunk by an average of four items over the last four weeks.

« However, we expect this decline to reverse in the coming months as shoppers find their feet in their new routine. »