Third of households buy groceries from M&S

High street retail chain attracts 800,000 new customers in the last month

A third of UK households are now buying groceries at Marks & Spencer after the retailer invested in improving the quality of thousands of products. 
M&S increased its share of the grocery market after attracting 800,000 new customers over the past four weeks, according to figures from NIQ, which singled out the retailer as the fastest-growing traditional supermarket since August. 
In total, M&S’s sales were up 12.4pc in the 12 weeks to October, with NIQ adding that 33pc of households are now buying some food and drink at the retailer. 
It means the company’s overall share of the grocery market has grown to 3.7pc, compared with 3.4pc a year earlier. 
The latest figures will be seen as proof that M&S’s efforts to win over shoppers with better-quality products are starting to pay off. 
Last year, it cut the shelf-life of its sandwiches from three days to two, as part of a drive to upgrade 1,000 products on its shelves, as revealed by The Telegraph in May.
Alex Freudmann, M&S Food’s managing director, said that “quality, quality, quality is the most important thing”.
He said the company was “constantly reviewing” its products, adding: “The UK retail sector is so competitive that everyone’s always trying to copy us and catch us up. It is our job to keep reinvesting to maintain that gap every year.”
M&S has also been adding more market-style stalls into its food halls as part of a £500m programme to upgrade its stores.
The latest figures on M&S’s growth come weeks after separate data from Kantar also put the retailer as Britain’s fastest-growing supermarket. 
Analysts suggested the jump was fuelled by people doing more of their weekly shop at M&S, rather than grabbing a couple of items on the commute home from work. 
The change has been part of a revamp by Stuart Machin, M&S’s chief executive, to boost the food division. 
It comes after Britain’s supermarkets have been battling competition from the German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which boomed during the cost of living crisis. 
Growth at Aldi has since slowed, with the NIQ figures showing sales were up 0.7pc in the last 12-week period compared with a year earlier. Lidl sales were up 11.2pc. 
Asda has been struggling to retain customers. According to NIQ, its sales were down 3.1pc between August and October, with its market share falling from 13.1pc to 12.1pc. 
Asda recently announced that Lord Rose, its chairman, would be taking over at the helm of the group, weeks after he told The Telegraph he had been “embarrassed” by the company’s performance.