Lamb remained a popular seasonal centrepiece this Easter as almost 9% of households in Great Britain (GB) bought lamb joints in the run-up to the festivities, totalling to 2.6 million purchases.
This is according to the latest figures from Worldpanel by Numerator, an organisation who publishes its grocery market share data every four weeks.
Within its market analysis of the four weeks leading up to April 19, Worldpanel underlined the Middle East conflict as another factor that is influencing consumers’ behaviours, with shoppers increasingly seeking out deals due to concerns about rising prices.
Groceries
The latest report showed that spending on promoted items over the four weeks rose by 7.8% year-on-year, while spending on full-price goods fell by 0.2%.
According to Worldpanel, the proportion of spending on promotions currently stands at 31.3%, having risen year-on-year every month since July 2023.
The data organisation claimed price cuts are driving this trend as £4 in every £5 spent on promotional items is “used on price reductions, rather than multi-buys, which tend to push up basket sizes”.
However, like-for-like grocery inflation decreased to 3.8%, indicating that the impact of the conflict in the Middle East has not yet filtered through to supermarket shelves in Britain.
Overall, Wordpanel stated that take-home grocery sales increased by 0.9% in those four weeks compared to the same time last year.
Easter
Sales in the four weeks before this year’s Easter Sunday were up by 14.9% when compared to sales during the same time last year.
Meanwhile, sales of hot cross buns over those four weeks rose by 14%, with different flavours such as lemon curd, apple, and cinnamon becoming more of a preference than traditional hot cross buns amongst consumers.
Worldpanel also noted the increased popularity of cleaning products in the last month as sales were up by 8% versus last year, with products such as cleaning accessories, floor cleaning products, and general purpose cleaners being the most commonly bought items.
Worldpanel
The head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, Fraser McKevitt recogisned that consumers are turning to special officers when buying groceries due to other rising costs from the MIddle East conflict such as fuel prices.
He said: “Easter is always an important indicator of consumer mood, and shoppers did not hold back on the traditional staples this year.
“However, with the conflict in the Middle East continuing to fuel concerns about price increases, the promotional data suggests that shoppers are already looking for ways to keep grocery bills down.”
Retailers
Looking back over the 12 weeks to April 19, Wordpanel stated that Lidl reached a new record high market share of 8.4%, marking an increase of 0.4% from a year ago.
Additionally, sales across Lidl establishments grew by 8.8% due to the acquisition of more than half a million additional shoppers, which was more than any other retailer.
Sales has consistently rose for Tesco and Sainsbury’s in recent years as consumers have spent 4.3% and 4.5% more on groceries at both respective retailers in 2026 so far.
In terms of market share, Tesco holds the top spot as their percentage has risen by 0.4 points to 28.1% in total, while Sainsbury’s now holds a 15.5% share after increasing by 0.2 points from last year.
Meanwhile, sales at Morrisons were reported to be up 1.1%, resulting in a share of 8.4%, while Asda’s share currently stands at 11.6%
Moving on to Aldi, the retailer’s sales rose 1.2% year on year, bolstering its market share to 10.6%.
More niche retailers such as Co-op and Iceland hold a market share of 5.1% and 2.3% respectively, with spending at Iceland increasing by 2.1%.
Despite widespread concern about inflation and household grocery bills, Worldpanel noted that “more premium-focused retailers outpaced the overall market.”
Sales at online-only specialist Ocado increased by 11.3%, taking share to 2.2%, up 0.2 percentage points on last year.
Market share for Waitrose held at 4.6% as sale rose 3.8%, with spend per trip growing faster than at any other grocer, while sales at M&S were higher than last year.