UK roundup: Latest in shares, retail media & qcomm

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 and Ocado increase UK market share

• Tesco Media unveils latest service developments 

• Asda announces plans for a full product reset

• Morrisons launches quick commerce service, Morrisons Now

• Aldi adds reduce to clear sections to stores 

• Booths reveals improved performance in latest annual results  

Lidl and Ocado increase UK market share

The latest sales figures by Numerator from Worldpanel, covering the 12 weeks to 5 October 2025, show Ocado Retail continues to lead the UK grocery market in growth. The online retailers saw sales increase 13.6% vs. the same period last year, outperforming the market which grew at 4.3%. Lidl was second place with 10.8% growth, followed by Tesco growing at 6.9%, Sainsbury’s at 5.2%, Iceland at 4.5%, Aldi at 4.3%, Waitrose at 3.7%, and Morrisons at 1.7%. Co-op and Asda sales declined by 2.3% and 3.2% respectively. 

Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry’s view: Ocado Retail has led the market for growth for 17 months in a row and has seen its market share reach 2.0%. Tesco continues to maintain its market leading position with 28.3% share of the market as it continues to make progress towards its goal of a 30% market share. Aldi’s sales have notably slowed in the past couple of months, now growing inline with the market. 

Tesco Media unveils latest service developments  

Tesco’s inhouse retail media division, Tesco Media, has revealed its latest capability developments. New features include premium video formats on Tesco’s website and app, the launch of a new GenAI-powered digital tool, Tesco Media Creative Studio, designed to simplify and speed up creative production by automatically generating compliant adverts in all formats brands need across online and physical stores. New opportunities to reach audiences across its retail media network were announced, including online brand zones and turning stores into brand-building opportunities, Tesco Media highlighted how the new features would allow brands to remain fully privacy-safe whilst measuring campaign success.  

Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry’s view: Tesco, with its wealth of Clubcard data, is well placed to seize the opportunities presented by retail media and the development of its offer in this space shows no signs of slowing down. In a field where technology is constantly evolving, the latest developments are likely to keep Tesco a step ahead of its rivals. 

Asda announces plans for a full product reset   

Asda has announced plans for a full reset of its products. As revealed by The Grocer, the retailer told suppliers it plans a full reset ‘bay-by-bay’ empowering its buyers to ‘own every four feet’. Providing additional details, the retailer said the focus would be on removing SKU duplication rather than a range cull. The ambition is to provide more space for high volume selling lines and improving choice through strengthening its private label ranges. Speaking at the announcement, Asda Chairman, Allan Leighton said the retailer was 30% of the through its turnaround. 

Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry‘s view:  Asda notified suppliers earlier this year that it’s planning on reducing its SKU count from around 30,000 products to 24,000. We now have the detail on how this will be achieved. Although no timeframe was announced, Asda has previously reported its Rollback price cuts will finish at the end of 2026, which could signpost timings for this reset. 

Morrisons launches quick commerce service, Morrisons Now 

Morrisons has launched its own quick commerce delivery service, Morrisons Now. Operating initially from 158 stores, the retailer will expand the service to 420 stores by the end of the month. Shoppers can place orders via Morrisons.com or the Morrisons Groceries app, ordering up to 30 items at a time. Products will be delivered within 60 minutes by Just Eat or Uber Eats drivers operating under the aggregators’ white label services. The service has a minimum £15 spend with an additional £4.50 flat delivery fee.  

Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry‘s view: Morrisons joins Tesco (Whoosh) and Sainsbury’s (Chop Chop) in offering its own quick commerce service. The retailer will maintain its existing partnerships with Just Eat, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo. The service will provide Morrisons with ownership of shopper data, which will undoubtably be used to improve its retail media capabilities by providing a more rounded view of shopper’s purchase behaviour.  

Aldi adds ‘reduce to clear’ sections to stores 

Aldi is rolling out ‘clearance’ areas in the fresh section of stores across its UK estate, helping it tackle food waste. Products will include fresh produce close to its best before date, offered at a significantly discounted price. It also has other locations in store where shoppers will find baked goods and other perishable items. 

Senior Insight Analyst, Michela Pearson‘s view: This initiative fits perfectly within Aldi’s strategy of operating sustainably and offering shoppers great value.  Discount shoppers are increasingly heading into stores for smaller, top-up shops, and a dedicated section of food-for-later products will help shoppers on that mission. 

Booths reveals improved performance in latest annual results  

Booths’ latest annual results, covering the year to 31 March 2025, reveal the premium retailer’s sales increased by 1.4% to £323m, while pre-tax losses improved from £1.6m to £846,000. Booths credited higher footfall and increased basket spend, partly caused by inflation as drivers of sales growth. Future developments will see an overhaul of IT systems and continued development to store formats including the 1847 Café installation at its Knutsford site and renewals of Scotforth and Barrowford stores. 

Senior Insight Analyst, Alex Rowberry’s view: Booths performance exceeded its expectations for the year, providing confidence its current strategy is working as it undertakes improvements to IT systems, a task as recently proved by Asda, even the largest of retailer’s have struggled with. 

 

Looking for more insight? 

Subscribers can find out more on our UK market hub.