New figures show a widening gap between discount retailers Aldi and Lidl in Ireland.

Kantar Worldpanel Ireland says a record 72.4% of all Irish households shopped in a Lidl store in the last quarter, widening the with rival discounter Aldi.

Sales growth for Aldi stand at 2.4% in the latest quarter – “a positive step up from the previous results for April, and an early sign that sales growth might be starting to improve again”, it says.

The overall figures for the 12 weeks ending May 22nd show a strong sales boost for the grocery market with sales increasing by 4% compared with last year.

David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, explains: “Consumers are making more frequent visits to supermarkets, averaging an additional four trips in the latest 12 weeks compared with last year and driving volume growth across the market”.

“Coupled with increased prices this means that the average household is spending an additional €50 on groceries this year, amounting to an extra €89m for the market”.

Source: Kantar Worldpanel Ireland

Each of Ireland’s five main retailers has seen sales either flat or growing on the year prior this period.

Tesco sales remain in line with last year, with market share just 0.3 percentage points behind SuperValu at 22.4%.

Tesco has managed to recruit an additional 10,000 shoppers on last year, with more than 80% of households visiting one of its stores in the latest 12 weeks.

This is the first growth in footfall for Tesco in 10 periods, suggesting its investment in keeping prices down may be starting to pay off.

SuperValu remains in positive growth, increasing sales by 2.9% on last year – its tenth consecutive period of growth.

Dunnes Stores was one of only two retailers to perform ahead of the market this month, with sales growing by 8.0% as shoppers continue to up their spend.

The average spend at Dunnes is now €37.20, compared to a national average of €21.80.