Overview

• Worldpanel by Numerator reports like‑for‑like grocery prices up to 5.2% in the four weeks to October 5, up from 4.9% a month earlier.
• Grocery sales rose 4.1% year on year, with online spending up about 12% to a 12.7% market share as more than a fifth of households shopped online in September.
• Spending on promotions reached 29.4%, the highest since April, while England’s new HFSS rules saw multi‑buy shares shrink to 8% on crisps and 5% on cereals from 28% and 18% three years ago.
• Retailers and analysts cite higher wages, employer taxes, regulatory costs, CO2 shortages, livestock disease, unstable weather and costlier commodities as key inflation drivers.
• Retailer performance diverged, with Ocado identified as the fastest‑growing grocer and Lidl and Tesco gaining share, while Asda and the Co‑op lost share year on year.