Menu Close

Top 10 supermarket chains in the UK in 2017

Joe David

According to IGD, a research and training charity with experts based in the UK, Asia and North America, the estimated value of the UK grocery market is to reach £206bn by 2018. The current value is approximately £192.6bn (Statista, 2017). This is in fact far greater than the GDP of many small countries together.

The key players in the UK grocery market are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and Morrisons. However, others are coming up the ladder very well. The growth and success of discounters such as Aldi & Lidl is very impressive. These discounters certainly put a significant pressure on the big giants in the market. Lidl is in fact the fastest growing grocer in the UK. It is worth noting that both Aldi & Lidl are German retailers operating in the UK.

Let’s now look at the top 10 supermarket chains in the UK by market share. According to Kantar Worldpanel (cited in BBC, 2017) the top 10 supermarket chains in the UK are as follows:

  1. Tesco (27.8%)

 

  1. Sainsbury’s (15.8%)

 

  1. ASDA (15.3%)

 

  1. Morrisons (10.4%)

 

  1. Aldi (7%)

 

  1. Co-op (6.3%)

 

  1. Lidl (5.2%)

 

  1. Waitrose (5.1%)

 

  1. Iceland (2.1%)

 

  1. Ocado (1.4%)

What is interesting is that Lidl has beaten Waitrose by a small margin to become the seventh biggest player in the UK grocery market. Lidl has an ambitious expansion plan for the next two years. It aims to open 50 to 60 shops a year in the UK which will cost the company approximately £1.45bn between 2017 and 2019.

More and more people are now shopping in Lidl and Aldi and this trend is expected to continue. It will be interesting to see if and when any of these two companies can manage their place in the list of top four retailers in the UK.

Hope the article has helped you explore the top 10 supermarket chains in the UK. You may also like reading 10 largest countries in the world by area. If you liked this article, please share it by clicking on the icons below.

The article publication date: 17 December 2017

References/further reading

BBC (2017) Lidl tops Waitrose to become UK’s seventh biggest grocer, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41011259 (accessed 05 December 2017)

Statista (2017) Market value of grocery retail in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2007 to 2017 (in billion GBP) available at

https://www.statista.com/statistics/295669/grocery-retail-market-value-by-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/ (accessed 05 December 2017)

Photo credit: www.pixabay.com

Author: Joe David

Joe David has years of teaching experience both in the UK and abroad. He writes regularly online on a variety of topics. He has a keen interest in business, hospitality, and tourism management. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management.

Tagged