The return of warmer weather in May has helped drive sales growth at British supermarkets, and they are poised for a boost from the upcoming Euro 2024 football championship, according to industry data published on Friday.

Market researcher NIQ reported that sales at UK supermarkets rose 3.3 per cent in the four weeks ending 18th May year-on-year, thanks to a brief period of hot weather in the week ending 11th May.

"It was the warm weather which helped to move the dial in terms of shopper spending at the UK supermarkets, more so than food inflation, which is expected to remain at around 3 per cent for the next few months," said Mike Watkins, NIQ's UK head of retailer and business insight.

Watkins noted that NIQ's survey data showed at least 45 per cent of UK households are interested in Euro 2024. Of those, 69 per cent plan to watch the matches at home by themselves or with other household members. "This could be a boon for supermarket sales of drinks, snacks and food for event-driven categories, such as barbecues," he added.
The tournament, held in Germany, runs from 14th June to 14th July, with both England and Scotland participating.

Over the 12 weeks to 18th May, NIQ said online player Ocado was the fastest-growing UK grocer with sales growth of 12.4 per cent year-on-year, followed by discounter Lidl with 9.0 per cent and Marks & Spencer with 7.6 per cent.

Market leader Tesco saw sales growth of 5.4 per cent, while Sainsbury's saw growth of 6.0 per cent. Asda was the laggard with sales falling 2.7 per cent, and discounter Aldi only achieved growth of 0.7 per cent.

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