ALDI’s share of the Aussie market still rising

The Aussie supermarket war continues to heat up as Aldi's share of the market continues to creep up, while Woolworths suffers a gradual decline.

As of December 2015, ALDI held 12.1% of the total supermarket market (up slightly from March 2015, when it was 11.6%), according to data by Roy Morgan Research. 

Also read: Angry shoppers threaten to boycott Aldi after latest revelation

With its first South Australian stores now open and its expansion into Western Australia due to start rolling out mid-year, the future is looking bright for the German supermarket chain’s quest for a bigger slice of the Aussie supermarket pie.

Market share over time (dollar value): Australian supermarket grocery market

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January 2007–December 2015, average 12-month sample = 14,793.Base: Australian grocery buyers 14+, weighted to households

Although Woolworths Group retains the largest market share of 37.3%, this has declined from 38.5% since our last report.

Also read: Australia not affected by UK Aldi recall

Meanwhile, its bitter rival Coles Group is narrowing the gap, having increased its share from 31.8% to 32.5% over the same period.

IGA is relatively stable with a 9.7% share.

While ALDI’s dollar share of the market is just under one-third of Woolworth’s, it is a different story in terms of customer volume.

As Roy Morgan’s data revealed recently, customer loyalty is in short supply when it comes to supermarkets, with cross-visitation a regular occurrence – and the fact that ALDI holds a 36.8% share of total grocery buyers (or half of Woolworths’ 72.5%) certainly bears this out.

In an average four-week period, 5.3 million Australian consumers shop at ALDI, 10.5 million shop at Woolworths, 10 million shop at Coles and just over 4 million shop at IGA, while almost 4 million frequent other supermarkets.

Some 37.1% of these shoppers visit at least one Coles, one Woolies and one other supermarket during this time.

Also read: WATCH: How Aldi is winning the supermarket wars

“With its South Australian expansion now underway, and WA to follow soon, it’s no wonder ALDI’s dollar share of the Australian supermarket market is rising. Obviously, the German chain has a long way to go before it threatens Woolworths’ and Coles’ share of the market, but then again, Rome wasn’t built in a day," Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine said.

“Meanwhile Woolworths’ dollar share of the market has declined once again — not so much as to knock them off top spot, but still cause for concern, especially given that Coles is showing signs of catching up," she said.