The figures showed rising consumer confidence and euro hopes were dampened by a relentlessly wet summer, while falling inflation, football and fake tan dominated grocery shopping this month.
Food price inflation continued to fall, dropping to 1.6% from 2.1% in June, the lowest reading since September 2021, according to analysts Kantar.
The fall coincides with the fastest monthly increase in footfall so far this year, with Britons visiting supermarkets 2% more often during this period than a year ago.
As financial pressures on households eased, sales of branded products rose 3.6 percent, outpacing private label sales of 2.7 percent.
As England progressed through the Euros, football fans increased their beer sales by an average of 13% on the days the team played compared to the same day the previous week.
However, with many games taking place on ‘school days’, Brits appear to be opting for moderation, with spending on non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beer on match days increasing by 38%.
Meanwhile, a wet summer saw sales of cold and flu medications increase by 35%, but sales of sunscreen fell by 10% compared to last year, when the UK experienced its warmest June on record, while sales of sun protection products increased by 16%.
“The retail industry is very different to when the last Labour government was in power in 2010, and so is the shopping cart,” Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insights at Kantar, said ahead of the King’s Speech on Wednesday.
“As eating habits evolve, sales of refrigerated vegetarian products such as popcorn, peanut butter, sausages and grills have more than tripled.
“Now, there are more opportunities to drink premium ground and whole bean coffee.”
Ocado saw sales increase of 10.7% in the 12 weeks to July 7, making it the fastest-growing grocer for the fifth consecutive month.
Waitrose increased its market share for the first time since January 2022, rising 0.1 percentage point to 4.5%, as spending at premium grocery stores increased by 3.3%.
Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer, achieved its biggest share gain since November 2021, taking a market share of 27.7%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to last year.
