UK round-up: latest retailer sales performance

In this instalment, our UK analysts offer their take on some of the market’s latest developments and initiatives. Here’s what you need to know about:

• Lidl closes gap to Morrisons in latest Kantar market share data

• M&S Click-and-Collect returns after cyber-attack

• Iceland to reward shoppers for reporting shoplifters to staff

• Poundland reveals date for closure of online sales and Perks loyalty scheme

• Mars boosts cocoa resilience in supply chain through biotechnology partnership

Lidl closes gap to Morrisons in latest Kantar market share data

The latest UK grocery market share data from Kantar, covering 12 weeks to 10 August 2025, saw the market grow by 4.5% year-on-year. Lidl and Ocado lead the market with growth of 10.7% each. Sales at Tesco’s grew 7.4%, at Sainsbury’s by 5.2%, at Aldi by 4.8%, and at Morrisons by 0.9%. Sales at Asda declined by 2.6%. Lidl’s growth puts the discounter’s share of the market at 8.3%, marginally behind Morrisons on 8.4%.

IGD Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry’s view:

Lidl has been consistently outperforming the market for the past two years and looks set to overtake Morrisons, in Kantar’s view of the market, before the end of this year. Tesco has seen its performance steadily improving in 2025, reaching 28.4% market share, as it progresses towards its goal of a 30%.

M&S Click-and-Collect returns after cyber-attack

M&S has restored its click-and-collect service 15 weeks after a cyber-attack forced its suspension. Online deliveries had resumed in June, with this latest recovery marking a key step back to normal and helping lift shares by 2%, overtaking Co-op in the latest Kantar data. Behind the scenes, however, IT and staffing disruptions persist. There are reports of unstable internal systems and a partial hiring freeze, as M&S works to offset an estimated £300m profit hit through insurance, cost controls, and trading actions.

IGD Insight Manager, Sneha Haria’s view:

M&S’s swift restoration of its external-facing services underlines a persistent effort to rebuild customer trust and operational momentum. While technology and staffing challenges suggest there’s still work to be done behind the scenes, the company’s ability to get critical services back online signals resilience. This underscores the importance of robust cyber-defences for retailers – a hard lesson for M&S, but their rapid action will help restore shopper confidence.

Iceland to reward shoppers for reporting shoplifters to staff

Iceland has begun rewarding shoppers who report shoplifters in its stores. Shoppers spotting and reporting shoplifting to store staff will be eligible for a £1 credit to their Bonus Club Card. Shoppers will be able to spend the bonus immediately. The launch of the scheme follows ONS figures released last month, revealing shoplifting incidents increased by 20% to 530,643 in the year to 31 March 2025.

IGD Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry’s view:

Retailers have struggled with rising rates of shoplifting in recent years, responding with increasing security measures such as staff body cameras and the increased use of security tags to stem loses. Iceland’s move could prove to be a very cost-effective deterrence if shoplifters believe they are under surveillance from shoppers, although the scheme runs the risk of shoppers coming into harm’s way.

Poundland reveals date for closure of online sales and Perks loyalty scheme

Poundland has announced its website will switch to browsing-only on 16 September. The Poundland Perks scheme will also close on the same day, but shoppers will have until 15 January 2026 to redeem vouchers.

IGD Insight Analyst, Michela Pearson’s view:

Poundland’s new owner, investment firm Gordon Brothers, is ploughing ahead with its plans to turn around struggling operations at the variety discounter. It has closed 25 stores so far this month, with another 24 closing by the end of the month, and also launched an online clearance sale for seasonal products. Axing online and the loyalty scheme will allow it to focus on bringing shoppers back to its bricks-and-mortar stores.

Mars boosts cocoa resilience in supply chain through biotechnology partnership

Mars has announced a new partnership with Pairwise, the biotechnology company behind CRISPR. This is effectively a DNA adjustment tool allowing for manufacturers to make genetic changes in their crops which can boost resilience to drought and disease and to complement this, the agreement provides access to their Fulcrum platform providing Mars with a rich database of known plant traits and DNA information to support the process. Cocoa will be the focus of this development with the aim to protect the future supply for one of the world's largest chocolate producers.

IGD Head of Supply Chain Insight, James Rothwell’s view:

Resilience is the objective with this announcement from Mars and is timely with the market. Earlier in the year, cocoa supply was flagged as a risk due to changes in legislation impacting payments to cocoa farmers from the EU compounded by increasing climate challenges and extreme weather events. Responding to ongoing environmental challenges, many governmental institutions from the European Parliament, Defra to USDA (US Dept of Agriculture) are all actively driving progression in biotechnology to bolster national food security.