Morrisons and Waitrose are the latest UK retailers to announce price campaigns, promising value to its customers amid ongoing cost of living challenges.
Morrisons price matches Aldi and Lidl
Morrisons has committed to price match over 200 items against Aldi and Lidl. As part of the commitment, Morrisons will check prices twice a week, and if necessary adjust them, to match the cheapest price.
Cupboard staples including corn flakes, canned tomatoes, baby wipes, rice and bread as well as household cleaning products such as anti-bac spray, bleach and toilet rolls are included in the price match. Morrisons is also continuing its commitment to British Farming with 100% British beef mince, chicken fillets, semi-skimmed milk and carrots all included in the Price Match.
“We want to reassure our customers that we have hundreds of products that are the same price or cheaper – with the quality they’ve come to expect from us – than those available at Aldi and Lidl which is why we have launched our new Price Match,” says Rachel Eyre, Morrisons Chief Customer & Marketing Officer
“We hope this new campaign will bring our quality and value into even sharper focus for our customers.”
Waitrose invests £30m into own brands
Waitrose is cutting prices by another £30m on hundreds of everyday, popular own brand products. The price cuts began this month on over 200 lines including British meat, fruit and vegetables, store- cupboard staples and products sold on it popular fresh food counters. More price cuts are set to follow in the coming months.
Customers are said to benefit from hundreds of products including Essential and Duchy Organic products being lowered by 8% on average, with the dairy, fish, meat and poultry, ready meals and frozen lines being lowered by 10% on average.
James Bailey, Executive Director for Waitrose says the lower prices will “make a real difference to our customers’ baskets”.
“This £30m investment in new lower prices demonstrates our continued commitment to offering our customers the best value for money without compromising our unique, high quality food sourced to industry leading animal welfare standards,” he says.
Low income households hit hardest
The latest figures from Asda’s Income Tracker reveal that the average household disposable income is the highest it has been in almost two years. However there remains a stark contract between middle and low earning households, with the latter falling into the negative.
While middle income households income grew by 15.6% when compared to the same period a year earlier, to £254 a week, the lowest income earners income decreased by -0.5% year-on-year, with a -£69 a week shortfall. This means that their take home pay is not enough to cover spending on bills and essentials.
Asda says it continues to support families and communities by providing customers with “more value each time they shop”. The retailer plans to bring its low grocery and fuel prices to more communities across the UK by stepping up its convenience proposition with the opening of 110 Asda Express convenience stores this month.
Asda also recently became the first supermarket to price match Aldi and Lidl on 287 comparable grocery products, including a host of household staples, and has reduced prices by an average of 17%.