British grocery sales growth slowed over the last month as shoppers held back spending in anticipation of upcoming Christmas festivities and Black Friday promotions, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Market researcher NIQ said UK supermarket sales rose 4.0% in the four weeks to Nov. 2 year-on-year, having been up 4.7% in the previous month.
"Shoppers so far have been cautious and it’s evident that they are saving on grocery essentials to be able to afford treats and indulgences," Mike Watkins, NIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said.
He noted the UK has "a polarised consumer", with 50% of households continuing to feel pressure on personal finances.
NIQ said sales of general merchandise fell 1.4% in value terms, with volume sales down 5.5%.
Echoing data this week from rival market researcher Kantar, NIQ said Britain's fastest growing grocers were online player Ocado and discounter Lidl, with growth over the 12 weeks to Nov. 2 of 16.1% and 11.9% respectively.
The researcher said Marks & Spencer took third place with growth of 11.4%, while market leader Tesco, up 4.7%, and No. 2 Sainsbury's, up 4.6%, also gained market share.
No. 3 Asda remained the industry laggard, with sales down 3.5% and a 1 percentage point loss of market share over the year.
Last week, Asda chairman Stuart Rose said the grocer had "lost the plot" but the business was fixable.
Both Tesco and Sainsbury's have forecast strong Christmas business.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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