At its annual results last week Asda boss Allan Leighton boasted of “a pretty significant war chest” with which to compete on price against rivals in the next year.
But on the evidence so far, his promise to be 5-10% cheaper is some way off. Asda secured its first Grocer 33 pricing win in a month this week. But it was only 40p cheaper than arch rival Tesco.
Still, a win is a win. And what was perhaps most notable was that it didn’t have to rely much on the Rollbacks which Leighton brought back in January. Asda had just five promos, of which four were Rollbacks, considerably fewer than its rivals – Morrisons was carrying a dozen deals. Tesco and Waitrose had 10 each, while Sainsbury’s had eight of the items on our list on promotion.
Yet Asda’s £68.22 trolley offered the lowest price for 19 items and was exclusively cheapest for 11 including the baby potatoes, Cadbury Mini Rolls, Jacob’s Cheddars and Quorn mince.
We also saw deflation across all five retailers, though Asda’s prices actually fell the least – just 0.9% year on year.
Tesco, which was 2.3% cheaper compared with March 2024 – and 5% cheaper than last month – offered savings of £5.40 (-7.8%) for Clubcard holders on its £68.62 total. It offered the lowest price for 15 items and was exclusively cheapest for four, including the Cathedral City Minis and Cawston Press juice (see right).
Morrisons was a whopping 6.3% cheaper than 12 months ago. However, it was still £1.53 more expensive than Asda at £69.75, and carried the lowest price for only six items. And none were exclusively cheapest.
Sainsbury’s was 1.4% cheaper but came in £4.37 more expensive than Asda at £72.59.
As to Waitrose it was 5.5% cheaper than March 2024 and more competitive than usual this week, just £9.58 more expensive than Asda at £77.80. It also offered the lowest price for five items
and was exclusively cheapest for three: the Bonne Maman conserve, Lenor fabric conditioner and strawberries.
The lower prices meant overall our shopping basket was 3.3% cheaper year on year, and down 4.4% on last month. Even before Asda opens its war chest it’s very competitive out there across the board.
No comments yet