No surveys. No biases. Only truth from billions of transactions. Actionable Insights with Retail Media.
March 2026 is the pre-Easter build-up. Snacks exploded: +52.82% MoM, the single biggest category jump this year. Sweet snacks alone hold 8.97% value share. Bakery surged (+26.57% MoM), cooking ingredients climbed (+25.65% MoM, +26.08% YoY), and meat continued its recovery (+25.59% MoM). This is a month of preparation: shoppers are stocking kitchens for the holiday season. Special occasion trips nearly doubled from February (24.45% vs 13.00%), gift shopping appeared at 5.92%, and discovery/browsing hit 7.69%. Routine replenishment dropped from 40.15% to 33.75%. The basket is shifting from functional refills to purposeful, occasion-driven spending.
Spending peaks between 12:00-21:00, with 14:00 as the single busiest hour (8.06% of all value), closely followed by 20:00 (8.04%). Sunday became the heaviest shopping day (17.00%), a clear departure from February's Thursday-Friday dominance. Tuesday held strong at 15.08%. In a 31-day month after February's compressed 28, shoppers spread out but concentrated weekends.
The biggest movers tell the story: Ice Cream and Desserts surged (+126.29% MoM), beef jumped (+59.20% MoM), prepared meat climbed (+43.45% MoM), preserves and pickles stayed hot (+34.11% MoM). On the other side, eggs dropped (-20.11% MoM) after February's recovery, oral care fell (-18.92% MoM), and face and body care slid (-20.87% MoM). A market gearing up for Easter entertaining, pulling spend from personal care into food.
Based on 100% real transactions, in-store and online. No panels. No projections. Just reality.
* Over 120 million anonymised retail transactions analysed. Based on actual behavioural and sales data, both in-store and online.
What Shaped March
- Snacks dominated the month
Snacks surged +52.82% MoM and +11.57% YoY, reaching 14.46% value share, nearly matching meat (14.60%). Sweet snacks alone command 8.97% value share, salty snacks 4.46%. Ice cream and desserts exploded (+126.29% MoM). This is Easter prep in full swing: chocolate, biscuits, and entertaining snacks leading the charge.
- Special occasions came back hard
Special occasion trips jumped from 13.00% in February to 24.45% in March. Gift shopping registered at 5.92%, discovery/browsing at 7.69%. Routine replenishment dropped from 40.15% to 33.75%, fill-in from 33.19% to 20.36%. Shoppers shifted from autopilot to intentional buying. Easter is driving the basket.
- Cooking at home intensified further
Cooking ingredients and base food posted the strongest YoY growth of any macro-category: +26.08%. Dessert ingredients hold 1.44% value share (+38.46% MoM). Sauces and dressings grew +75.97% YoY. Preserves and pickles climbed +34.11% MoM. The kitchen is the centre of March spending.
- Sunday owned the week
Sunday carried 17.00% of weekly value, the heaviest single day. This is a shift from February's Thursday-Friday pattern (which combined for 33.19%). Tuesday (15.08%) and Friday (14.98%) held. Wednesday was the quietest day (12.17%). Weekend shopping is back, driven by occasion-based buying that needs more browsing time.
What Just Changed. And Why It Matters.
- From routine to occasion
February was a functional month: 40.15% routine, 33.19% fill-in, 13.00% special occasions. March flipped the mix: routine dropped to 33.75%, fill-in to 20.36%, and special occasions nearly doubled to 24.45%. Gift shopping (5.92%) and discovery (7.69%) appeared as meaningful trip types. Easter is reshaping the basket from necessity to celebration.
- Snacks overtook meat as the growth story
In February, meat's recovery (+16.57% MoM) was the headline. In March, snacks took over: +52.82% MoM vs meat's +25.59% MoM. Snacks (14.46% value share) are now within touching distance of meat (14.60%). Sweet snacks at 8.97% are nearly double salty snacks at 4.46%. The pre-Easter chocolate and confectionery wave is unmistakable.
- The protein mix keeps shifting
Meat overall recovered (+25.59% MoM) but stays negative year-on-year (-3.72% YoY). Within meat, the story diverges: beef surged (+59.20% MoM), prepared meat climbed (+43.45% MoM), packed sausages grew (+18.46% MoM). But chicken and turkey, despite holding 3.38% value share, show the slowest MoM recovery (+7.70%). Fish keeps declining (-34.11% YoY). Shoppers are choosing processed and cheaper cuts over fresh premium protein. Third month running.
- Beverages led on value share but grew modestly
Beverages remain the largest category at 21.83% value share, up +18.11% MoM. Beer (5.87%) and carbonated drinks (5.27%) dominate. But the YoY growth is only +2.94%, the lowest among growing categories. The category is big but mature. Growth is coming from food, not drinks.
- Home care continued its structural decline
Home care posted +11.27% MoM (seasonal bounce) but remains deep in negative territory year-on-year: -14.47% YoY. Household products dropped -46.83% YoY. Personal care reversed February's recovery, falling -5.66% MoM. Non-food categories are losing wallet share to food, month after month.
Dan Marc
Brands That Moved the Market
This table ranks the top brands by Retail Media Score (RMS), a composite index that measures brand performance across key retail metrics. It shows each brand's current score and month-over-month change, highlighting which brands gained or lost momentum.
How Shoppers Chose: Category Dynamics
The charts below highlight the fastest-growing and fastest-declining subcategories by sales value share, measured through month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) changes, identifying where consumer spending is shifting the most.
Top 5 Growth Categories (MoM):
Top 5 Declining Categories (MoM):
How Shoppers Chose:
Category Sales Highlights
Sales value performance across main categories, with month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) changes showing how consumer spending shifted.
Where the Money Went: Category by Category
Top 15 subcategories ranked by sales value share in March, showing where consumer spending concentrated the most across the product mix.
Sales value distribution by day of the month and hour of the day, highlighting peak spending windows and recurring calendar patterns throughout March.
Detailed breakdown by main category: each section shows the subcategory ranking by sales value share alongside the top 5 brands by Retail Media Score (RMS), revealing both where the money went and which brands led within each category.
Meat & Processed Meats
Dairy & Eggs
Bakery
Snacks
Base Foods & Cooking Ingredients
Beverages
Fruits & Vegetables
Personal Care
Home Care & Cleaning
Who Is Buying – Life Stage & Demographics
Shopper profile breakdown across five demographic dimensions: life stage, age bracket, gender, shopping mission type, and geographic distribution by county. The regional chart reflects sales value distribution, revealing who is buying, why they shop, and where spending concentrates.
By Life Stage
By Age
By Gender
By Shopping Mission
By County
