Iceland big out-performer in 12 weeks to mid-June 
The pandemic drove British consumers to local convenience stores, according to&nbsp;data from Neilson which shows the sector experienced at 17% YoY rise in sales in the four weeks to 13 June. While all of the major supermarkets benefited from shoppers stockpiling, registering sales growth of between 3.6% and 9.3% in the 12 weeks to 13 June, Iceland was the clear outperformer with a 23.3% YoY increase in sales over the period.
Grocery sales at British convenience stores were up 17% year-on-year in the four weeks to 13 June, ahead of the 14% growth in total grocery sales, as consumers in coronavirus lockdown prioritised shopping locally, industry data showed on Tuesday.

Market researcher Nielsen said online shopping in lockdown also continued to be popular, with sales soaring 115% compared to the same period last year, and maintaining the 13% share of sales recorded in the previous four-week period.

Nielsen said the average spend per shopping visit across all formats was £20.32 ($25.30), a decrease of £1.30 compared to the previous four weeks.

'Frozen Food Demand'

Over the 12 weeks to 13 June, Iceland outperformed all other major UK grocery retailers with a 23.2% rise in sales year-on-year, thanks to a surge in demand for frozen food products during lockdown.

Sales at the Co-Operative rose 15.9%, outperforming Britain's big four major supermarket groups and reflecting the fact that it operates a network of local convenience stores.

Of the big four, market leader Tesco was the strongest performer with sales up 9.3%, followed by the No. 4, Morrisons, with sales up 8.8% and No. 2 Sainsbury's , whose sales rose 7.2%. Walmart-owned Asda was the laggard, with sales up 3.6%.

As was the case in May's data, the German-owned discounter Aldi lost market share. However, its discounting rival Lidl maintained its share.

News by Reuters, edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.