Market share, top UK ads, diversity: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Fashion retail to be hit hardest by consumer cutbacks

Fashion retail is expected to take the biggest hit from consumer cutbacks in the UK this year, with spend set to fall by 6.5% to £41.68bn by the end of 2023.

According to forecasts from GlobalData, prepared in partnership with VoucherCodes.co.uk, total retail spending is expected to rise marginally from £319.79bn in 2022 to £319.82bn. However, this rise will primarily be a result of inflation rather than an increase in sales volume, as consumers battle with the cost of living.

In fact, VoucherCodes.co.uk’s ‘2023 Spending and Saving Report’ reveals 73% of consumers plan to cut back on retail spending this year, and almost all retail categories are expected to face declining sales.

The sportswear category is forecast to see the next largest decline in sales in 2023, down 4.4% to £11.77bn. Technology retailers are due to see spend fall 3.1% to £20.82bn.

In the home and garden category sales are expected to drop by 2.9% to £37.43bn, while health and beauty is to decline 2% to £23.71bn.

However, grocery spend is predicted to buck the trend, with sales to rise by 3.3%, or almost £6bn, to £176.6bn. Surprisingly, gifts and flowers are also set to grow in sales, up 0.8% to £7.1bn.

Source: GlobalData/VoucherCodes.co.uk

Grocery price inflation passes 17% for the first time

Grocery price inflation has reached the highest level since Kantar began recording it, hitting the 17.1% mark for the first time ever in the four weeks to 19 February.

Last month marked a full year since monthly grocery inflation jumped from about 4%. It means if households continue to buy the same groceries and products they will be spending an additional £811 on their average annual bill.

Supermarket own labels continue to do well as a result, with sales up 13.2% this month, well ahead of branded products which increased by a more modest 4.6%.

Consumers are increasingly shifting spend to the discounters too, with Aldi pushing its market share up to 9.4%. It remains the fastest growing supermarket, with sales up 26.7%. Lidl has also seen a big boost to sales, up 25.4% over the period to give it a market share of 7.1%.

The UK’s biggest three supermarkets increased sales by a more modest amount, with Tesco (up 6.6%), Sainsbury’s (6.2%) and Asda (5.9%). All dropped market share marginally over the period compared to last year. Tesco’s market share now stands at 27.3% (down from 27.7% in February 2022), Sainsbury’s is 15.2% (down from 15.5%) and Asda’s is 14.3% (down from 14.6%).

Morrisons saw its sales slip by 0.9% taking its market share down to 9%

Source: Kantar

Asda’s Christmas campaign tops list of 2022’s favourite ads

Asda’s ‘Have your Elf a Merry Christmas’ is the nation’s favourite ad of 2022, according to a study from System1 and ITV.

The ad, which features Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf character edited into an Asda store, received a score of 5.9 stars using System1’s Test Your Ad platform. The star rating is a measure of an ad’s long-term brand building potential.

Of the 50 highest ranking ads for 2022, all of which received a five-star score, 21 are Christmas themed. This is far higher than in 2021 when just two Christmas ads scored five stars – Aldi and Coca-Cola.

‘All these + more streaming this Christmas’ from Disney+ also received a score of 5.9, as did Amazon’s ‘Joy is Made’, Aldi’s Home Alone-themed Kevin the Carrot instalment, Waitrose’s ‘Food to Feel Good About’ and M&S’s ‘Gifts that Give’. While the scores are all tied on 5.9 stars, the ranking is determined by deferring to the short term sales ‘spike’ rating next, and if those are also tied the brand ‘fluency’ score is then taken into account.

The only non-festive ad to make the top 10 is Samsung’s ‘Curious Cats’. The ad, which highlights the brand’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 phone, received a score of 5.8 stars.

Lindt’s ‘Christmas Time to Melt’ (5.8 stars), Lego’s ‘Build a Playful Holiday’ (5.8 stars) and Nintendo’s ‘Nintendo Switch Lite’ ad (5.7 stars) make up the rest of the top 10.

Source: System1

Percentage of women in C-suite roles at agencies up 12%

The share of women in C-suite roles within agencies is up 12% year on year, with females now accounting for 37.5% of these senior positions, according to the 2022 IPA Agency Census.

Meanwhile, the share of people from non-white backgrounds in C-suite positions has increased by 58% since 2021, with these individuals now making up 11.2% of C-suite roles.

Overall, the percentage of employees from non-white backgrounds is up by 29% compared to last year, now standing at 23.6% across all roles.

However, there are still considerable gender and ethnicity pay gaps in play, according to the latest data.

Men earn 17.4% more than women on average among the IPA member agencies that provided salary breakdowns by gender and seniority. This is an improvement on the 23.3% recorded in 2021, however.

The ethnicity pay gap, meanwhile, remains largely the same at 21.1% in favour of white employees, which compares to the 21.2% ethnicity pay gap recorded in 2021.

Source: IPA

Quarter of Brits cut spend with greenwashing brands in 2022

Nearly a quarter (23%) of British consumers spent less money with household brands publicly accused of greenwashing last year, according to research firm Sensu Insight.

The survey of 1,682 UK adults in October finds 34% say they have seen brands claim to be sustainable without providing evidence. Almost one in 10 say they have boycotted a brand which has been accused of greenwashing, while 11% say they deliberately shop with a competitor.

Meanwhile, a survey of 1,000 UK employees saw 23% report that their organisation has come under accusations of greenwashing.  Some 13% say their employer has suffered from multiple reputational crises for the same reason, resulting in negative reviews (15%) and customer complaints (12%).

Greenwashing may also impact a business’s ability to attract and retain talent, the research finds. Some 17% of people say greenwashing accusations would dissuade them from working for a brand, while 6% of businesses report increased difficulty hiring staff as a result.

Source: Sensu Insight