One of the bitter consequences of post-pandemic grocery inflation was the steep decline of consumers’ trust in supermarkets. Claims of profiteering, shrinkflation and value engineering quickly wiped out the reputational gains made when the sector was applauded for feeding the nation.
Shoppers were rightly asking whether they were being taken for granted, and questioning whether the rules of fair play were being followed. Could they trust their supermarket to keep prices as low as possible and not take advantage of the situation?
As inflation falls, thankfully trust is returning, but this week’s BBC Panorama investigation into price matching is a salutary warning that it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
It exposed that many Tesco products price-matched to Aldi have a lower specification, meaning consumers are getting less of the main ingredient.
The findings were broadcast across the BBC and reported by hundreds of media outlets on Tuesday, illustrating the level of consumer interest in whether Tesco shoppers are getting a fair deal.
Against this backdrop, it was surprising how flippant The Grocer’s Daily Bread editorial was about the programme, calling Panorama’s findings ‘lightweight’ and ‘misleading tosh’ – a view shared by an unnamed supermarket source.
I sincerely hope these views are not shared widely across the sector. If they are, then it suggests a complacency and disregard for the importance of giving customers clarity on what they are buying when using product comparisons to drive sales.
Trust is hard won and easily lost. All retailers must act with integrity, and in the case of products priced-matched with Aldi, a match should be just that. A price and quality match.
Aldi is proud to be Britain’s grocery benchmark on price, but we know all too well that many of our competitors are playing fast and loose with their matching schemes. Inflated SKU counts, continuously rotating products, lower specifications; the list goes on.
We welcome competition, it’s good for the market and customers. The question is whether everyone is acting in the very best interests of consumers. Ultimately, it’s a question of trust and integrity that everyone in the market should answer.
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