In a week when former Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers was found guilty of possessing drugs and Lord Myners published his damning report on the Co-op Group’s leadership, citing the group’s “deplorable governance failures” that led to the “near collapse” of the society, it is incredible that Morrisons CEO Dalton Philips still looks the man most under the cosh in grocery.

“Morrisons must usher in its new era of pricing transparency sooner rather than later”

Ronan Hegarty, News Editor

We had been warned that Morrisons’ first-quarter sales would be negative, but the 4.2% fall in total sales and 7.1% decline in like-for-likes for the 13 weeks to 4 May still feels like a major blow to the retailer. It is especially tough for Philips and his management team as just last week they were shouting from the rooftops about the 1,200 permanent price cuts that would rebalance its pricing and help it fight off the discounters.

What this week’s figures clearly show is that whether Morrisons’ strategy is right or wrong, it needed to do something and fast. Growth in the UK grocery market fell to its lowest level in 11 years, according to this week’s Kantar figures, showing just how damaging it is to be losing share at this time.

We will have to wait until September and Morrisons’ interims to find out exactly how shoppers are responding to its price cuts. But we are also still waiting to see the full details of the cuts, which it has promised to host on its website.

An important part of the price reduction strategy was that the retailer would show the pricing history of each of the discounted items, in a move it claimed would usher in a new era of transparency. This is crucial because shoppers are becoming increasingly weary (and wary) of rollercoaster supermarket prices and this is one of the big reasons they are flocking to the discounters - they know what the prices are going to be before they get there.

Philips says Morrisons is still on track to get this up and running in May, but it must do this sooner rather than later. Supermarket pricing is a complicated business compared with a discounter, which typically only stocks around 1,300 lines. Transparency is what’s needed - but promising it is one thing, actually delivering it another entirely.

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