This article is more than 4 months old

This article is more than 4 months old

Sales of baking ingredients, frozen vegetables and alcohol are rising while makeup, garden plants and newspapers have taken a hit as the UK changes its shopping habits during the coronavirus crisis.

Total sales were up by 1.9% in the week to 5 April compared with the same period last year as the stockpiling peak subsided, according to the market analysts IRI. Before the government imposed lockdown measures, sales were up by as much as 50%.

Tim Dummer, the commercial director of IRI, which tracks sales at major grocery chains including supermarkets, said: “Since the initial stockpiling and as social distancing restrictions limit retailers’ capacity to service many more customers in stores, the UK market has begun to adjust to the new ‘lockdown norm’ and we see grocery sales begin to stabilise.

“UK shoppers continue to shop less frequently but spend much more each time. In some retailers we have seen [the amount spent on each visit] nearly double compared with previous-year levels.”

Sales of alcohol, packaged foods such as pasta, toilet roll and tissues continued to post strong growth of more than 14%, while cosmetics sales slid by a third, newspapers by a quarter and toothbrushes and toothpaste by just over 10%.

The fastest-growing category in the UK last week was baking goods, up 49.3%, followed by canned meat and sausages.

The rise in frozen foods may reflect efforts to prepare for isolation at home and waste less during the period of economic uncertainty when many have lost work or taken a pay cut.

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Sales of garden plants and flowers fell by 62.4%. While garden centres and many DIY stores are closed, supermarkets discounters and other chains monitored by IRI have also reduced the amount of space devoted to plants and flowers in order to focus on groceries and other essentials.

The drop in the sale of oral hygiene products is more mysterious. IRI said it could be a result of low demand after earlier stockpiling.