Supermarket war: Sainsbury’s vow to match Aldi ‘Doing everything to keep prices low!

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Sainsbury’s has announced its plans to improve the value of its products for shoppers. The Chief Executive of the supermarket group has said it will work towards reducing costs and match even more of its prices to Aldi. 

Simon Roberts, chief executive of the supermarket group said the pressure on household budgets will increase due to inflation. 

“We really understand how hard it is for millions of households right now and that’s why we are investing £500 million and doing everything we can to keep our prices low, especially on the products customers buy most often,” he added. 

“The pressure on household budgets will only intensify over the remainder of the year and I am very clear that doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues will remain at the very top of our agenda.”

Simon, who took the role in 2020, has explained how shopping habits have changed. 

More customers are said to be switching to own-brand products in response to the cost of living crisis. 

“We have seen an increase in economy own-label lines, with strong rises for products like meat which we have matched against Aldi prices,” he said.

Currently, Sainsbury’s price matches Aldi on 150 own-label and branded products. 

This means the items will be the same price, or cheaper than Aldi. 

The supermarket boss also explained how some of the “big ticket” items, such as furniture and technology, haven’t ended up in shoppers’ baskets as frequently as in other years. 

This news comes after the retail giant revealed that like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, declined by four percent over the 16 weeks to June 25, compared with the same period last year.

Sainsbury’s did say they had a “good” performance in its grocery business. 

But comparing this year to last, sales dipped 2.4 percent. 

Sales were also particularly strong around the Jubilee week. 

The company said sales of beers, wines and spirits were at “the highest ever outside of Christmas and Easter, with Pimm’s, sparkling wine and champagne selling particularly well”.

But, the overall sales decline was dragged lower by significant slumps in the group’s clothing and general merchandise divisions, which includes its Argos brand.

Argos sales fell by 10.5 percent over the period, which it said was driven by a lack of interest in purchasing over the first five weeks.

The group also revealed that fuel sales jumped 48.3 percent over the period, driven by increases in the price of both petrol and diesel.

Simon added: “We’re working hard to reduce costs right across the business so that we can keep investing in these areas that customers care most about.

“The progress we are making on improving value, quality, innovation and service is reflected in our improved grocery volume market share.”

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