Covid-19 continues to have lasting effects on consumer behaviour, with online food shopping levels continuing to rise, according to latest Irish grocery data from Kantar.

The data examines how consumers’ habits have evolved since the pandemic, as the five-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown approaches.

The findings show that habits haven’t fully returned to pre-pandemic norms, and shopping trips remain lower than before.

Households made fewer visits to supermarkets in February 2025 than in 2020, and online shopping has taken a record 6.9% market share this February compared to 2.7% in the same period in 2020.

Online sales rose by 14.6% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €27.8 million through this channel.

Over the latest 12-week period, the number of online shopping trips increased by 10.4%, alongside shoppers picking up more packs when shopping online, which contributed a combined €22 million to online’s overall performance.

Business development director at Kantar, Emer Healy said: “Right now it's hard to separate the cost-of-living crisis from post-Covid trends, with value-seeking a key consumer focus. Despite expectations, shoppers aren't visiting more stores for deals, averaging only four stores over the past 12 weeks."

February 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, saw spending on promotion increase by 11.6% with shoppers spending an additional €92 million versus last year. Promotions now account for 23.9% of all sales going through the tills.

Representing nearly half (45%) of all grocery value sales, own label products remain popular with sales jumping 3.8% versus last year as shoppers spent an additional €62.6 million on these ranges.

Brands performed slightly ahead of the total grocery market growing by 5.6% compared to last year.

February 2025 was a busy month for Irish consumers, with shoppers spending an additional €14.4 million on chocolate and sweets and €4.2 million on wine, with both celebrations for the bank holiday weekend and Valentine’s Day.

Shoppers also prepared for pancake day, stocking up on sweet spreads and spending an additional €1.3 million compared to January.

Grocery inflation rose by 0.3% and now stands at 3.7% compared to the same 12-week period last year, following recent periods of stability.

Over the latest 12 weeks, Dunnes Stores holds 24.6% market share, with sales growth of 6.9% year-on-year. Dunnes welcomed new shoppers to store and with existing shoppers picking up more per trip, this contributed a combined €18.2 million to its overall performance.

Tesco holds 23.9% of the market, with value growth of 6.5% year-on-year. New shoppers and increased trips to store contributed a combined €27.1 million to overall performance.

SuperValu holds 20.4% of the market with growth of 4.5%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 23.7 trips over the latest 12 weeks. The increase in the number of trips contributed an additional €41 million to its performance.

Lidl holds 12.8% market share, up 4.6%. New shoppers drove an additional €4.2 million in sales. Aldi holds 10.9% market share, up 4.7%, while more trips in- store drove an additional €9.5 million in sales.