Sales in Swedish grocery retail increased 4.3 percent in September compared with the same month a year earlier. This is shown by the Grocery Trade Index from the industry association Swedish Grocery Trade, according to a press release.
Sales in physical stores rose 4.2 percent, while e-commerce increased 4.5 percent. Within e-commerce, home deliveries grew 6.3 percent and click-and-collect by 2.1 percent. E-commerce’s share of total grocery sales amounted to 4.6 percent.
At the same time, food prices and prices of non-alcoholic beverages fell 6.6 percent year-over-year, according to Statistics Sweden’s Consumer Price Index. The decline is largely explained by the halving of the food VAT rate. Compared with August, prices decreased 0.8 percent.
“Grocery retail developed steadily in September. Food prices are still lower than a year ago, but external factors will continue to affect prices both upward and downward,” says Karin Brynell, CEO of Swedish Grocery Trade.
During the third quarter, total grocery retail sales increased 4.0 percent compared with the corresponding period last year. Store sales rose 3.8 percent and e-commerce by 7.7 percent. Calendar-adjusted growth amounted to 4.0 percent both in September and during the third quarter.
