THE British grocery market has shrunk for the first time since consumer data company Kantar Worldpanel began collecting records 20 years ago, as retailers slash prices to lure shoppers and Aldi and Lidl continue to gain territory.
That is according to the latest Kantar research for the 12 weeks to November 9, which found that the grocery market amounted to £24.9 billion, falling by 0.2 per cent from the year-ago period.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said the shrinking market will worry retailers as they make preparations for the key Christmas trading season.
Furthermore, the price of a standard basket of groceries experienced its 14th successive fall in the period, dropping by 0.4 per cent year on year.
Mr McKevitt said: "This is bad news for retailers, but good news for shoppers with price deflation forecast to continue well into 2015."
Aldi, which is aiming to create 35,000 new jobs in the UK by 2022, achieved year-on-year sales growth of 25.5 per cent to reach a record-high market share of 4.9 per cent.
Kantar said the retailer continued to benefit from "disruption" in the grocery market, and added that Lidl "also performed strongly," with sales growth of 16.8 per cent to reach market share of 3.5 per cent.
Britain's biggest supermarket Tesco saw its woes continue, with sales down by 3.7 per cent.
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