Amazon is set to top the cooking & baking market for the first time in 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report: ‘UK Cooking & Baking 2019-2024’ shows that Amazon’s share of the market will increase to 6.2% in 2019, up by 0.9ppts on last year, leaving former market leader Sainsbury’s behind with a share of 5.3%.

Amy Higginbotham, Retail Analyst at GlobalData says: “Amazon has come a long way in the cooking & baking market since 2016, when it had a share of only 2.7%. Competitive prices and wide range are the two most important drivers of retailer choice for cooking & baking shoppers, according to GlobalData’s cooking & baking survey. Amazon has clearly benefitted from this, tempting shoppers away from bricks and mortar competitors such as Sainsbury’s with low prices on an unparalleled choice of branded items, along with its attractive fulfilment options.

“Among the most-used cooking & baking retailers including Tesco, ASDA and Wilko, Amazon over-indexes with consumers looking for a wide range, free delivery, speed of delivery and range of delivery options. However, it should be noted that Sainsbury’s Group, including fifth place Argos, has a collective market share of 9.4%, some way ahead of Amazon for now.”

GlobalData’s report also reveals that Amazon is now the third most considered retailer for cooking & baking purchases with 25.8% of shoppers considering it, compared to only 8.8% in 2017.

Higginbotham concludes: “Amazon’s profile was boosted in 2018 by its sponsorship of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 while its collaboration with baking bloggers such as Instagram’s Jane Dunn also helped it become more considered, especially among young cooking & baking shoppers: 17.4% of cooking & baking shoppers aged 16-24 purchased from Amazon in 2018, compared to 10.1% in 2017, according to GlobalData.

Survey data taken from GlobalData’s cooking & baking survey of 2,000 respondents.