Coronavirus Impact Report

This report contains:

• Summary of UK Performance
• UK update on COVID-19
• Total Market Overview
• Additional Support from IRI:
  • IRI White paper
  • IRI Global Demand Index

SUMMARY OF UK PERFORMANCE

• End of the 19th week of the UK lockdown and the FTSE 100 drops as markets react to the halting of removing lockdown restrictions. The impact of lockdown measures can be seen with consumer movement changes during COVID-19 and the growth in Online
• In the latest week, sales reached £2.29b; £70m higher than the same time last year but down -1.7% on last weeks sales
• There are signs sales are returning to normal levels as we see lower sales growth in Ambient and BWS and this combined with the warm weather during the same week last year sees YoY sales growth slowing to only +3.2%
• Of the +3.2% growth in Total Store sales vs a year ago, Grocery sales increased +3.9% and Non Food +0.7%
• Of the additional £70m spend in the latest week, this was driven by Grocery +£66.5m and Non Food +£3.5m
• Since the beginning of 2020 and predominantly since the start of COVID-19, UK Retailer sales are £4.766b higher than last year, driven by Ambient (+£1.5b) and BWS (+£1.3b) departments although both departments growth has reduced in the latest week
• Tobacco, BWS, Fresh Meats/Fish, Chocolate Confectionary, Ready Meals and First Aid (Face Masks) feature in the top growing Sub Categories
• Worst performing Sub Categories were those impacted by the cooler weather compared to last year; Ice Cream, Water, Carbonates and Suncare and the effect of continued restricted movement on Food to Go categories; Sandwiches, In-Store Deli’s and Prepared Fruit Salads
• US sales are indexing higher than other markets. Italy sales returned to normal ahead of other European markets

• FTSE 100 fell in the latest week as it reacted to the UK government pausing some of the restrictions being relaxed and the introduction of localised lockdowns
• While supermarkets stayed open throughout the pandemic, ''non-essential'' shops had to close, which was bad news for the embattled UK High Street. After falling sharply, sales of non-food items started to recover in May, and have bounced back further since shops were allowed to reopen in June..

• More people have started visiting their workplaces and going to non-grocery shops but these visits are about a third lower than pre-lockdown in February. Visits to recreational sites such as parks and beaches have increased, with people making the most of the warmer weather but trips fell during the recent wet weather in late July