Grocery sales in Ireland slowed during the week ending March 22, down by 6.8 per cent compared to the previous week though still up 19 per cent compared to the same time last year with alcohol being the only category to experience growth, Nielsen reports. Alcohol sales surged to €35.8 million as Irish people celebrated St Patrick’s Day at home.
Nielsen says the decline in sales versus the previous week suggests that stockpile shopping during the Covid-19 crisis may have peaked. The previous week ending 15 March saw stockpiling reach record levels as people prepared to quarantine. A week on, Irish shoppers were in the restricted living phase which saw a slow down on panic-buying as shoppers use up their stockpiled supplies with many shoppers unwilling or unable to venture out.
The slowdown in panic-buying was seen across major categories.
Household was down 17 per cent, ambient or shelf stable groceries were also down 17 per cent and health and beauty was down by 21 per cent. Popular stockpiling products like hand sanitisers (down 48 per cent), toilet tissue (down 41 per cent), soap (down 39 per cent) and pasta (down by 32 per cent) all also saw declines compared to the previous week.
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