LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Annual sales growth at UK grocery stores slowed to its lowest rate in 10 months in March, according to data out on Tuesday from research firm Kantar, as promotional activity picked up.
Take-home sales across the grocery sector rose by just 1.8% over the four weeks to 23 March when compared with last year, compared with 3.6% growth seen the previous month.

Over the period, grocery price inflation rose to 3.5%, up from 3.3% in February.

Retailers' price cuts were responsible for £2.6bn of promotional spending, which was 8.8% more than the same time last year, Kantar data showed, while £686m was spent on multibuy deals and 'extra free' offers.

"With prices continuing to rise, supermarkets are mindful of the need to invest to attract shoppers through their doors," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.

"Promotional sales ramped up this month to 28.2% of total grocery spending, the highest level we've seen in March for four years."

For the three months to 23 March, market leader Tesco booked £9.68bn of sales, up 5.4% on the year before, taking its market share to 27.9% from 27.3%.

Sainsbury also saw sales rise 4.1% year-on-year to £5.29bn, while Asda recorded a 5.6% drop to £4.33bn, taking their market shares to 15.2% and 12.5%, respectively.

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