With the news this week that the whole country is moving to Level 5 for six weeks, an already under pressure economy is bracing itself for another COVID lockdown shock.
With most facing uncertain times food retail stands out as one that will benefit most from the increased restrictions. The latest Kantar figures show take home grocery sales in Ireland grew 11.9% year on year during the twelve weeks to the 4th October.
We’ve spent €100 million more on groceries in the past four weeks than the same period last year and this trend will likely be boosted further with the new lockdown in place.
With Dublin being ahead of the curve in moving to Level 3, consumer trends in the capital could provide a good indicator of what’s to come for the rest of the country. Dublin saw the strongest regional growth this 4 week period, increasing sales by 19.4% and contributing an additional €48.2 million to the total market year on year.
Restrictions on pubs and restaurants saw alcohol sales soar by over 53% in the past month. Attempts to brighten up dinner time to replace the restaurant experience continues as sales in international ingredients rose by 25%. Hygiene also remains top of mind for Dubliner’s with antiseptics and disinfectants sales up 67%.
Online shopping continues to be the biggest growth area, increasing by over 75% in the four weeks to 4th October. Although this hasn’t hit the 128% increase we saw across last period, the online growth is worth an additional €18.7 million this period compared to last year. With increased restrictions this is only expected to rise in the coming weeks as people self isolate to get the virus under control.
Food retail is set for a bumper ride in the next six weeks, a shining light in an otherwise gloomy predicament.
Source: Kantar (12 weeks to 4th October 2020)
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