Shopping basket spend increased 3 percent in April

Total sales of consumer goods in Spanish shopping baskets in the month of April 2024 increased by 3.0% compared to what we spent a year before, while demand registered a slight increase of 0.5 %, while the average price reached an increase of 2.5%, according to the latest data published by NIQ.

Broken down by the main sections, food was the chapter in which the greatest expenditure was made, increasing its sales in value by 4.2%, while drugstores and perfumery did so by 3.7% and, on the contrary, beverages recorded a decrease of 2.6%, motivated by the drop in demand in this section of 2.9%. In this chapter, a volume growth of 3.5% is observed in drugstores and perfumery, while food grows by 1.6%.

Regarding the average price, in April there is a moderation in the year-on-year increases and thus food registers an increase of 2.6% compared to April 2023, constituting the lowest growth since the outbreak of inflation, while the other sections remained practically unchanged. flat, with an increase of 0.3% in beverages and 0.2% in drugstores and perfumeries.

In terms of channels, the great advance in online sales stands out especially in April, which registered an increase of 19.6%. At a distance, the super large ones follow, with an increase of 5.6%; perfumeries, with 4.9% more or service stations, with an increase of 2.3%. Another fact that stands out in last month’s behaviour is that hypermarkets decreased their sales in value by 6.8%.

Categories broken down by volume

If we analyse the pattern of demand by product, we observe that April was very similar to recent months and thus we find great dynamism in the chapter of dairy derivatives, such as cheese, which increases its sales in volume in 14.6%; grated cheese makes it 13.5%; fresh cheese, by 12.6%; fresh pasteurised cheeses, by 11.3% or blue cheese, by 9.7%, confirming the trend that the consumer has been attracted by the decrease in the price of milk derivatives and also because It is a more affordable source of protein than fish and meat.

For its part, concern about taking care of oneself continues to rise in the behaviour of buyers and thus, diet products are once again shown as one of the favourite products, with an increase in sales in value of 18.1%, as well as also makeup, with an increase of 12.3%; facial treatment; nuts, by 10.0%; oral hygiene products, by 9.8%; or infusions by 9.5%. For their part, convenience products appear on this list, such as frozen ready meals or canned ready meals, which increased their demand by 8.7% and 8.0%, respectively.

Regarding the least demanded categories, there are sun protection products, which decreased by 18.7% compared to a year before and it must be taken into account that in 2023 Easter was in April, seasonal phenomenon that also explains the decreases in volume of 11.1% for horchata, 8.5% for ice cream and alcoholic beverages, 6.1% for beer, 4.3% for soft drinks, or 2.9% for wine.

Major and minor price increases

For another month, oil once again takes first place in the list of items with the highest price increases compared to a year before and does so by 32.6%, compared to the same period last year. And although, logically, olives and pickles follow, they already do so below double digits, with an increase in the average price of 9.9%, followed by juices, by 8.4%; hair care, by 7.6% or frozen vegetables and preserved vegetables, by 7.5% and 6.9%, respectively.

Although due to the current global cocoa crisis, with the decrease in raw materials and their increase in price, these categories appear in the ranking of products that have experienced the greatest price increases, the truth is that they are experiencing lower growth than expected: 5.5% for chocolates and 3.6% for cocoa, with decreasing demand, although not very pronounced: 2.2% and 2.5% less, respectively.

On the side of those that experienced greater price decreases in April, we once again find, in line with the increase in demand, a large number of dairy products and, a year ago, the effect of the increase in the price of dairy products was still being felt. raw materials to make animal feed, derived from the war in Ukraine. Thus, pasteurised white cheeses decreased in price by 7.7%: grated cheese, by 6.7%; cheese, 5.9%; butter, 5.3%; blue cheese, 4.0%; processed cheese 3.6%; cream 3.3% or liquid milk and vegetable drinks, which recorded 3.1% less than in April 2023.

Outside of this large family of dairy products, we see how other products in the shopping cart, mainly in the drugstore and perfumery section, decrease their price, such as washing accessories, by 6.3%; household pulp, by 6.0%; laundry detergents, by 5.5%, or facial treatment products, by 3.6%.

Private label continues to grow

At the end of April and in terms of the difference between brands, the situation continues to be uneven, with an increase in value sales of private label brands of 7.5%, compared to a 0.5% drop for manufacturer brands, while volume sales increased by 4.3% for the former and decreased by 3.9% for the latter.

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