Grocery price inflation has fallen below 10% for the first time since July 2022 and now sits at 9.7% for the four weeks to 29 October 2023, new data reveals.
The Kantar data also shows that take-home grocery sales over the same period rose by 7.4% compared with last year.
Fraser McKevitt, Head of Retail and Consumer Insight, Worldpanel Division, UK, said: “While the drop to 9.7% is positive news and something of a watershed, consumers will still be feeling the pinch. We’re only seeing year on year price falls in a limited number of major categories including butter, dried pasta and milk.
“Retailers continue to look at ways of softening the blow for shoppers and slowing the rate of price rises. This has included upping the ante on promotions – every single one of the grocers increased the proportion of sales through deals versus last year which is something that has only happened on one other occasion in nearly 10 years.”
The data shows consumer spending on promotions has now hit 27.2% of total grocery sales – the highest since Christmas last year.
In addition, own label lines have grown ahead of their branded counterparts every month since February 2022, with the latest four weeks showing a sales boost of 8.0% for these lines.
The Kantar data shows the gap between own label and branded goods is at its narrowest since spring last year. Branded sales increased by 6.7% in the latest month, raising the distinct possibility that they will push ahead by Christmas, when shoppers typically turn more to brands.
