One Below has turned its pricing strategy on its head, so that instead of everything costing £1 or less, nearly everything is now £1 or more.
The discount chain is also rebranding as ‘One Beyond’, reflecting the new approach.
Instead of the original ‘Everything £1 or less’ strapline, its latest marketing materials say: ‘Amazing value from only £1’.
One Below was launched in early 2019 by Chris Edwards and his son of the same name, the duo who were behind Poundworld in its heyday.
The pair set out to prove there was still life in the pound shop model following the demise of Poundworld under TPG Capital ownership - but with a twist. Selling at prices up to £1, as opposed to only at £1, meant rivals such as Home Bargains would not be able to undercut by a few pence, One Below CEO Edwards Jr explained at the time.
He said One Below would be “the only name on the high street offering everything it sells for either £1 or less, with branded and import products costing as little as 29p”.
Talking to The Grocer this week, One Below chairman Edwards Sr said thanks to surging costs, only a “small percentage” of items remained under £1. About 70% of products now cost £1 and the rest more, up to about £10.
Edwards Sr said the new approach provided future-proofing and a way out of the inflationary “trap” of a £1 ceiling.
Read more: Can One Below breathe new life into the ‘fixed-price’ model?
“To keep everything for £1 or less we’d have to take too many items out of the shop,” he said. “We were making it work but we always said those days would come to an end, and with everything that’s going on in the world now it’s just impossible.
“The price of a container from China has gone from about $2,800 to between $10,000 and $15,000.
“We used to pay 15p per kw for electricity and now it’s 75p.”
About eight stores have so far opened under the new One Beyond banner, while the new pricing approach has been adopted across the whole estate of about 90.
“Customers haven’t even noticed to be honest,” said Edwards Sr. “They are accepting the fact prices are going up.”
However, the change of tact has not gone unnoticed by some on social media. Replying to a Facebook post by the business about a recent store opening, one shopper wrote: “Are you having an identity crisis? What’s One Beyond?”
Edwards Jr said it had always been the intention to rebrand but the plan had been brought forward by 12 months due to inflation. He said the model was working well, with store like for likes up by double digits this year, and the new name would be rolled out across the estate in quarter one of next year.
It is not the first retreat the business has made from its original ‘everything £1 or less’ proposition. Last year it altered its marketing to say ‘4,000 products £1 or less’, after introducing higher price points.
Poundland recently said it would double its number of products priced at £1 to help shoppers in the cost of living crisis, having been gradually transitioning to multi-pricing since 2017.
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