Retial

Annual profits at Iceland have slumped by a quarter as the frozen food retailer warned of an “exceptionally challenging” year for the supermarket industry. Iceland noted that all the “Big Four” UK supermarket groups lost market share in the past year, mainly to the German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Established grocers have also lost ground to pound shops, convenience stores, online retailers and more upmarket grocers such as Waitrose. I think all this is symptomatic of the end of the weekly shop – with people tending to buy less but shop more frequently. People also expect shops to fit around their lives rather than around store opening hours.