Grocery price inflation eased further in March, while early Easter treats gave sales a boost, new data showed on Tuesday.

Kantar said annual UK grocery price inflation ebbed to 4.5% in the four weeks to March 17, its lowest level since February 2022, and down from 5.3% in February.

The market research firm said grocery sales in the same period rose 4.2% annually to £33.02 billion from £31.68 billion, with an early Easter lifting sales.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, explains: ‘With Easter on the horizon, consumers have been stocking up on classic seasonal treats, with a quarter of people picking up four or more items when buying chocolate eggs.’

Shoppers remain on the hunt for value with premium own-label lines a big beneficiary of consumers trading down, growing by 16.1%, the quickest rate in nearly three years.

Kantar said Ocado Retail was the fastest growing retailer this month, benefiting from a sustained voucher campaign which helped it attract customers.

The retailer improved sales by 9.5% in the latest 12 weeks to £633 million, ahead of the total online market which rose by 6.6%, to account for 1.9% of all take-home sales.

The online-only grocer is a joint venture between Ocado Group PLC and Marks & Spencer Group PLC.

Year-on-year sales at Britain‘s two largest grocers, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, climbed by 5.8% and 6.7% respectively in the 12 weeks period to £9.03 billion and £5.01 billion respectively. Their shares of the market nudged up by 0.4 percentage points each to 27.3% and 15.2% respectively from 26.9% and 14.8%, respectively.

Aldi‘s sales stepped up by 3.1%, with its market share at 9.8%. Fellow discounter Lidl grew by 8.8% to capture a 7.8% share of the market, helped by a 24% rise in sales of baked goods and a 11% jump in fruit, vegetables and salads.

Shares in Tesco were up 0.2% at 294.30 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Sainsbury shares were down 0.2% to 256.40p. Ocado rose by 2.2% to 462.40p, while Marks & Spencer edged up 0.2% to 254.65p.

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