Business
Grocery price inflation slows in positive news for shoppers ahead of Christmas
Grocery price inflation has slowed in some good news for consumers as retailers ramp up festive deals ahead of Christmas, figures show.
Supermarket prices were still 4.7% higher than a year ago in October, but this was down from September’s 5.2%, according to market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator, formerly Kantar.
Spending on deals climbed by 9.4% to just under 30% of all grocery purchases, while spending on full-priced goods rose by just 1.8%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “Christmas ads are hitting our screens and the race to the big day is on in the supermarket sector.
“Retailers are very alive to the financial struggles that some households are facing, not least ahead of this year’s Budget.
“They’re eager to show how they’re offering shoppers value for money, putting the emphasis on price cuts rather than multibuy offers.”
Despite tightening belts, Worldpanel is predicting a new sales record for retailer premium lines this year, suggesting it has the potential to hit more than £1 billion in December.
Mr McKevitt said: “It’s important to remember that shoppers often look for great value and quality, not just the cheapest product.
“At Christmas especially people want to treat themselves and throughout the cost-of-living crisis we’ve seen them turning to retailers’ premium own label lines to do that in a way that’s more affordable.”
Online remains the fastest growing part of the grocery market and spending on home delivery rose by 11% over the month.
On average, households who use online grocery now buy three shops a month.
Ocado posted a new record share for the 12 weeks to November 2, hitting 2.1%, as it remained the fastest-growing grocer for the third month in a row.
Tesco and Lidl both added half a percentage point of share to their market positions, with Lidl boosting sales by 10.8% over the 12 weeks to take its share to 8.2% and Tesco now accounting for 28.2% of the market with a sales increase of 5.9%.
Sainsbury’s achieved growth of 5.2% to gain market share of 15.7%.
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Crunch talks between resident doctors and the Government are set to continue in a bid to avert strike action.
Sir Keir Starmer has given the resident doctors committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) a deadline to reconsider a deal on pay and jobs which includes an offer of thousands of extra NHS training posts.
It is understood the proposal will be removed from the deal if resident doctors in England press ahead with a six-day strike from April 7 in a row over jobs and pay.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the resident doctors committee of the union, said: “It is wrong for Government to withhold desperately-needed jobs as part of negotiating tactics.
“Anyone who works in the NHS knows that patients need these 4,000 jobs created as soon as possible.
“We made that very clear to Government in our meetings today.
“We are not interested in arbitrary deadlines – we will be looking to get this dispute ended right up to the last minute.
“We believe there is a deal there to be done if Government is willing to withdraw the changes it made at the last minute that reduced the funding for pay rises. Talks continue.”
It comes as senior medics announced they were escalating their disputes with the Government.
Consultants and other senior doctors are to be balloted on industrial action after ministers announced they would be getting a 3.5% pay award.
Simultaneous ballots of consultants and specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors will run from May 11 until July 6.
Addressing resident doctors, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote in The Times: “The truth is this: no-one benefits from rejecting this deal.
“Resident doctors will be worse off. Instead of improved pay, progression and support, they will receive the standard pay award this year, with none of the reforms that would have strengthened their working lives.”
The deal sets out a minimum of 4,000 new additional specialty posts to be delivered over the next three years.
NHS England boss Sir Jim Mackey confirmed the offer to expand training places will “come off the table” if an agreement is not reached.
The walkout, which is due to run from 7am on April 7 until 6.59am on April 13, will be the 15th round of strikes by resident doctors in England since 2023.
In a letter to health leaders, Mike Prentice, national director for emergency planning at NHS England, wrote: “We expect this round to be challenging as there is a shorter notice period, bank holidays within the notice period and the action itself falling during the Easter holidays.
“This will represent a significant strain on staffing resources to provide safe cover.”
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