Jasmine Birtles
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Asda and Morrisons Cut Prices
Vicky Parry
26th Apr 2022
UK Supermarket chains Asda and Morrisons cut prices to help struggling shoppers. The move has come as shoppers in Britain face increases in energy bills, council tax, and National Insurance.
For Asda, this comes after their Pulse Of The Nation survey found that nine out of every 10 consumers are worried about inflationary pressure, and 87% are worried that grocery prices will increase this year.
David Potts, Chief Executive, Morrisons said: “We know that our customers are under real financial pressure at the moment and we want to play our part in helping them when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping. These price cuts will have a noticeable and long term impact on our customers’ budgets and demonstrate our commitment to offering them the best possible value.”
Both supermarkets have been losing customers to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl in recent months, as shoppers look to cut back on costs. So let’s see what their discounts will include.
Morrisons
Morrisons is launching one of its biggest price cuts in recent years by reducing prices on over 500 products and introducing new and improved multi saves.
The lower prices cover six per cent of Morrisons’ total volume sales, with products from all across the store being reduced. Items cover cupboard essentials, fridge staples and frozen favourites and include cereal, cooking sauces, chicken and sausages. The average saving is 13% with key volume lines being eggs, baked beans and rice.
Individual items like coffee and nappies are included within the cuts, as well as the key ingredients needed for different occasions such as packed lunches or evening meals. White baguettes, ham, multi-packs of crisps and sausage rolls have all been cut to help reduce the cost of lunches while the prices of mince, rice and kidney beans have all gone down to make it cheaper to make chilli con carne.
As part of the campaign, Morrisons has cut the price of a quarter of its 235 entry level products which include ‘Morrisons Savers’, ‘Morrisons Wonky’ in produce and ‘Morrisons Essentials’ in homeware and health & beauty.
Over 180 additional products have been included in new and improved multi save promotions including a ‘Buy 2 for £1.80’ on cereals, a ‘Buy 2 for £3’ on breaded chicken and a ‘Buy 2 for £5’ on ready meals.
As well as price cuts and multi saves, a ‘Compare & Save’ campaign has launched in store to help customers identify the savings that can be made by swapping branded items for Morrisons own brand products. Morrisons is also continuing to invest in its market leading deals and this week customers can purchase a pizza meal deal for £10 which includes two pizzas, two sides and a drink.
Morrisons price cuts will be communicated to customers via TV and print advertising, digital, online and in store point of sale. There is also a Morrisons Savers event taking place in the seasonal aisle until 8th May showcasing the low prices to customers.
Asda
Asda has today announced it will be investing over £73 million in tackling the cost of living crisis for its customers and colleagues.
In a sweeping range of measures aimed at supporting UK households tackling inflation, the supermarket has today confirmed that it has ‘dropped and locked’ the price of over 100 family favourites and will lock the price down until the end of the year.
It has also confirmed to 120,000 hourly paid shop floor colleagues that their pay will increase to £10.10 per hour from July.
The move comes as Asda’s Pulse of the Nation survey found that 9 in 10 consumers are concerned about inflationary pressures to their budgets and 87% are worried that grocery prices will increase this year. Meanwhile, Asda’s latest Income Tracker has recorded its biggest ever drop in disposable income in March shows that the nation’s lowest income families had 74% less disposable income in March compared to the same time last year.
What products are covered in Asda?
Products covered by the ‘dropped and locked’ promise include a range of household favourites, including fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, store cupboard favourites like rice and noodles as well as soft drinks, desserts and frozen products. On average, prices will reduce by 12% and include staples such as John West tuna, dropping by 14% from £3.50 to £3, or 500g of Asda easy cook rice which has dropped by 25% down to 75p from £1.
In addition, working with its charity, the Asda Foundation, Asda’s community champions will help to invest over £2m in local grassroots with a particular focus on supporting those most impacted by the cost of living crisis, by funding activities such as summer holiday clubs and community events.
Mohsin Issa, Co-owner of Asda said: “We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.
“We’re standing side by side with the families and communities who are juggling so many demands at the moment. We’re taking unprecedented action to give families some additional stability and certainty in their weekly shopping by lowering and locking over 100 prices until the end of the year. We’re also proud to be investing in increasing the pay for our hardworking store colleagues and continuing to support the communities we are part of.”
What this means
While Asda and Morrisons cut prices mean that the supermarkets are taking us seriously and listening to consumer concerns by trying to earn our custom, MoneyMagpie editor Vicky Parry suggests that we “shop around” and says, “While it is fantastic to see the supermarkets going in this direction, still check you are getting the best deals. £1.50 for a big box of veg in Lidl: hunt for those yellow stickers and head to your local market to only buy what you will use”.
We reached out to the other top supermarkets for comment … we are still waiting.
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