New evidence has emerged to suggest Sainsbury is moving down prices as part of a plan to become more competitive with its bigger rivals.
In the first check conducted as part of the newly-revamped Grocer 33 shopping survey, Sainsbury has scored a surprise victory with this week’s cheapest basket of groceries.
In Sainsbury our new shopping list of 33 items cost an average of £35.25, which was 33p cheaper than Asda, 60p cheaper than Tesco and £1.47 cheaper than in Morrisons.
Our research has identified that the cost of a number of lines has fallen in the last week at Sainsbury and these cuts have reduced the average price paid for our new basket of goods by almost 3%.
Price cuts we have spotted in
the past week include 65p off the cost of a quiche lorraine and 30p off the price of a pack of ham. We have also spotted other cuts in recent weeks - including 30p off the own label Australian red wine we buy.
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said: “We feel that The Grocer 33 results this week reflect the price cuts that we introduced during May. Pricing remains firmly on our agenda and we are looking at it each week.”
Our shock findings came as UBS published a new report in which it said Sainsbury had cut prices by 2% on a basket of 100 grocery items.
More significant cuts are expected later this year, say leading City analysts. Some are predicting cuts of between 5% and 7%, but they doubt whether Sainsbury has the ability to maintain substantial cuts without wiping out profits.
Despite its victory in this week’s survey, our research suggests Sainsbury is still lagging behind Asda, Tesco and Morrisons on price.
We asked ESA, the retail and trade research specialists, to check the cost of a basket of 50 other items and we found that on these goods Sainsbury was anywhere between 8% and 14% more expensive than its rivals.
As part of the changes being made to The Grocer 33, we will in future be making regular changes to the shopping list in a bid to get a broader view of pricing through the year over a wide range of products and categories. We also provide much more detail about service and availability.
>>p20 The Grocer 33
Ronan Hegarty
In the first check conducted as part of the newly-revamped Grocer 33 shopping survey, Sainsbury has scored a surprise victory with this week’s cheapest basket of groceries.
In Sainsbury our new shopping list of 33 items cost an average of £35.25, which was 33p cheaper than Asda, 60p cheaper than Tesco and £1.47 cheaper than in Morrisons.
Our research has identified that the cost of a number of lines has fallen in the last week at Sainsbury and these cuts have reduced the average price paid for our new basket of goods by almost 3%.
Price cuts we have spotted in
the past week include 65p off the cost of a quiche lorraine and 30p off the price of a pack of ham. We have also spotted other cuts in recent weeks - including 30p off the own label Australian red wine we buy.
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said: “We feel that The Grocer 33 results this week reflect the price cuts that we introduced during May. Pricing remains firmly on our agenda and we are looking at it each week.”
Our shock findings came as UBS published a new report in which it said Sainsbury had cut prices by 2% on a basket of 100 grocery items.
More significant cuts are expected later this year, say leading City analysts. Some are predicting cuts of between 5% and 7%, but they doubt whether Sainsbury has the ability to maintain substantial cuts without wiping out profits.
Despite its victory in this week’s survey, our research suggests Sainsbury is still lagging behind Asda, Tesco and Morrisons on price.
We asked ESA, the retail and trade research specialists, to check the cost of a basket of 50 other items and we found that on these goods Sainsbury was anywhere between 8% and 14% more expensive than its rivals.
As part of the changes being made to The Grocer 33, we will in future be making regular changes to the shopping list in a bid to get a broader view of pricing through the year over a wide range of products and categories. We also provide much more detail about service and availability.
>>p20 The Grocer 33
Ronan Hegarty
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