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DUNNES Stores and Superquinn have continued to get hammered in the retail war, with both operators recording significant drops in market share over the summer.
Latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel show that the Dunnes Stores market share fell 5.5pc to 21.6pc in the 12 weeks ending on August 5. That decline has put the retailer in danger of being bumped to the country's third biggest retailer if it fails to stem its market share fall.
That third spot is currently occupied by SuperValu, the retail brand owned by the Cork-based Musgrave group. Its market share nudged 0.3pc higher to 19.6pc during the period.
German discounter Aldi posted the biggest gain. Its market share soared 25.2pc to 5.7pc.
Kantar estimates Ireland's grocery market is worth about €8.9bn a year.
Tesco continues its domination of the country's market. Its market share jumped 3pc to 28.8pc. But while Musgrave might be toasting SuperValu's position on the charts, it's been getting worse news with Superquinn. Musgrave finalised the €228m purchase of the ailing retailer in October last year.
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Since then it's embarked on a plan to revitalise the operations. But sales at the Superquinn business have continued to be hit even as Musgrave works to improve the stores and their overall trading.
Superquinn's market share plunged 9.2pc in the reported period to 5.5pc. That makes the chain smaller than German discounters Lidl and Aldi, which continue to power ahead in a more austere climate.
Lidl's market share rose 2.2pc to 6.7pc.
"Value for money remains at the top of the agenda for shoppers who are becoming more selective about which products they buy and where they buy them," said Kantar World Panel commercial director David Berry.
"This has meant we have seen a surge in sales of retailer own brand goods across most categories, with everyday staples such as bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits and soft drinks doing well in particular," he added.
The next set of retail data from Kantar will include the all-important back to school period, while one industry insider predicted a price war could commence in coming weeks as retailers continue to battle it out.
The overall value of the Irish grocery market fell 0.9pc over the year to August 5.
Kantar said grocery inflation stood at 2.1pc in the 12 weeks to August 5, significantly lower than the 4.4pc rate seen in August 2011.
Irish Independent
