Data: Grocery growth accelerates as shoppers stock up amid coronavirus fears

Sales of hand sanitiser increased 255% in February, while liquid soaps increased 7% and household cleaning product sales soared 10%.

Ocado, which warned customers of “exceptionally high demand” this week and said shoppers were placing “particularly large orders”, saw its sales go up 10.4% during the period.

Sales of health and hygiene products accelerated following news reports as consumers took steps to ward off colds and flu. Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “Given the media focus around the outbreak of coronavirus in February, it’s unsurprising to see shoppers prudently protecting themselves from illness.”

Among the big four, Sainsbury’s was the only retailer to return to growth with sales up 0.3% to reach a market share of 15.6%. At Tesco, Asda and Morrisons, sales continued a downward trend, falling by 0.8%, 1.2% and 2% respectively.

Valentine’s Day was the most significant retail event in February, with around 45% of consumers celebrating, according to Kantar Worldpanel data.

The main beneficiary of the day this year was Lidl with sales of categories including chilled ready meals, desserts, sparkling wine and chocolates up 17%. Lidl was also the fastest-growing grocery retailer for the first time since 2017, with sales up 11.4% to reach a market share of 5.8%.

Aldi’s sales increased 5.7% during the period, with strong growth in alcohol and chilled convenience items.

Sales at the Co-op grew by 2.5% year on year and its market share grew to 6.0% as it increased shopper frequency by one additional trip at a time when overall frequency fell.

Waitrose, which reports its full-year results later this week, saw sales decline by 1.3% during the period, despite being the market leader in shopper satisfaction.