LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - J Sainsbury has leap-frogged rivals to become the fastest growing of Britain's big four supermarket groups, according to market researchers TNS, helped by strong promotions and innovative campaigns.
The data shows sales at Britain's grocers growing 6.2 percent in the 12 weeks to April 19 compared with the same period last year, driven by food price inflation.
Sainsbury, Britain's third-biggest supermarket group, achieved growth of 8.1 percent, TNS said.
Industry number two Asda and number four Wm Morrison -- which were first and second fastest growing respectively in the 12 weeks to March 22 -- both outperformed the market during the latest period, while Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, lagged.
Food price inflation was 9 percent over the period, with customers mitigating this by switching to lower cost goods.
Long-tipped as a likely casualty of the economic downturn because of its reputation for higher quality and also higher prices than many of its rivals, Sainsbury has surprised many analysts with strong sales growth in recent quarters.
This has been driven by a combination of promotions and innovative campaigns that have caught the mood of the times, such as "feed your family for a fiver," "love your leftovers" and "switch and save," which has encouraged shoppers to switch from branded goods to cheaper own-label alternatives.
Following is a summary of market share findings:
12 wks to 12 wks to 12 wks to
19/04/09 22/03/09 20/04/08 Total till roll (million sterling) 28,941 28,605
28,138 Total grocers (million sterling) 21,602 21,228
20,341 Total multiples (million sterling) 20,121 19,758
18,883 Market share in percent Tesco 30.6 30.4 31.1 Asda 17.2 17.5 16.9 Sainsbury 16.3 16.1 16.1 Morrison 11.5 11.8 11.4 Waitrose 3.8 3.8 3.9 Somerfield 3.3 3.3 3.7 Aldi 2.9 2.9 2.7 Lidl 2.4 2.4 2.2 Iceland 1.8 1.8 1.7 (Reporting by Mark Potter)