Woolworths is continuing to lose grocery sales according to the latest Roy Morgan Supermarket Currency report.

Across the past 12 months, Roy Morgan says Australians spent almost a billion dollars less at Woolworths, instead spending the money at Coles and Aldi.

In the 12 months to September 2016, Australians spent AUD $89.8 billion at supermarkets. This was 87 per cent of the total AUD $103 billion spent on groceries overall.

It is estimated that Australians spent AUD $32.6 billion at Woolworths in the past 12 months, a drop of AUD $825 million when compared to what Roy Morgan Research thinks was spent at Woolworths in the prior 12 months.

Comparatively, Roy Morgan Research believes AUD $29.8 billion was spent at Coles in the past 12 months, AUD $1.1 billion more than last year. Aldi shoppers were thought to have spent AUD $11.2 billion, whilst IGA shoppers were thought to have handed over AUD $8.8 billion.

Shares of the $89.8billion spent at Supermarkets in 12 months to September 2016

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, October 2015 – September 2016, sample n = 11,621 Australian Grocery Buyers 14+. Dollars and percentages may not add to totals due to rounding.  

Chief Executive Officer of Roy Morgan Research, Michele Levine, said the price wars between Coles and Woolworths and the rise of Aldi appear to have stalled growth in the overall market.

“Between 2008 and 2014, the total national spend at supermarkets grew an average four percent annually, adding around three billion dollars a year to the tills,” Levine said,

“Then from 2014 to 2015, supermarket spend grew by only 1.8%, and by only 1.2% from 2015 to now—or only a billion dollars more than last year. As overall expenditure slows, market share is more important than ever for supermarkets: getting more grocery buyers into the stores, and claiming a larger share of their grocery budget,” she said.

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