Grocery sales dip from pandemic highs, but football provides a booze boom

The latest Kantar figures indicate that despite the year-on-year decline, sales are still better compared with two years ago, before the pandemic hit.

Shoppers spent £3bn more on groceries in 2021 than in the same period in 2019.

The easing of restrictions also saw the number of those buying groceries online fall by 81,000 in the last four weeks compared with the same four weeks last year.

And as the legal obligation to wear face masks in shops in England came to an end on Monday 19 July, 55% of shoppers say they felt safe on their latest trip to a retailer.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “The proportion of people who feel safe when visiting stores has not varied significantly over the past six months, despite the majority of the country now being at least partially vaccinated.

“Just over half of the population feel happy and secure in store, but of course that means a significant minority still experience some degree of anxiety.”

Among the notable category figures for the last month was the amount spent on alcohol.

McKevitt said: “It was a huge month for British football, with major tournaments usually providing a significant boost.

“But with many fans choosing to make the most of newfound freedoms and watch the matches in pubs and bars, take-home sales of alcohol over the four weeks to mid-July were actually down by 3% compared with the previous month.

That said, shoppers still spent £1.2bn on the category – a 24% increase on the same period in 2019.

Crisps and snack brands also enjoyed a boost from those of us who gathered round to watch the games at home and sales grew by 23% compared with two years ago.

It is the trademark food of Italy, England’s rival in the Euro 2020 final, but that did not stop people spending an extra £10m on chilled and frozen pizzas in the past month.”