Sales of supermarkets, grocery stores grew by 15.2 percent

Supermarket sales are on the rise and the “2012 Census of Retail Trade” has stats to prove it.

According to preliminary findings of the U.S. government’s census, supermarket sales outpaced overall retail sales between 2007 and 2012.

Supermarket News published detailed statistics on its website:

Sales of supermarkets and other grocery stores, excluding convenience stores, grew by 15.2 percent during the five-year period — nearly twice as much as all retail trade, which grew by 7.8 percent, according to the study. However, sales at warehouse clubs and supercenters increased 25.1 percent during the period.

In other statistics:

Sales of all groceries and food at supermarkets declined to 58.7 percent in 2012, compared with 60.2 percent in 2007.

Sales of groceries and food at warehouse clubs and supercenters rose slightly to 22.9 percent in 2012, compared with 22 percent in 2007 — a shift resulting from the decline of Kmart and the flattening of grocery sales at Walmart and Target, according to David Rogers, president of DSRMarketingSystems, Northbrook, Illinois.

Groceries and food represented just over 70 percent of total supermarket sales in 2012, compared with 73 percent in 2007.

Meals, snacks, soup and salad bars accounted for 4.2 percent of total supermarket revenues, up from 3.7 percent in 2007.

Prescriptions represented $22.2 billion of supermarket sales in 2012, down from $24.4 billion in 2007.

Check back with us in the coming weeks for more details from the census.