Morrisons trials Sainsbury's-style voucher scheme

Retail-Week.com the Bradford-based grocer is offering money off a basket or money off specific products vouchers to customers at up to ten stores in the North East.

The coupons offer blanket money off deals such as £2 off a £40 spend or product specific deals such as money off pizza if your basket features pizza.

It is understood the trial is likely to run until the end of the summer before the retailer considers a roll out of the tactic. The initiative was spotted by Morrisons blogger Steve Dresser today.

Money off coupons have been a key mechanic used by grocers in recent months as the major grocers invest in driving footfall.

A spokesman for Morrisons said: “It’s crucial that we provide customers with offers that are really relevant to them and that help out with the cost of their weekly shop.”

Sainsbury’s has attributed an uplift in sales and market share in the last six months to its Brand Match scheme which gives money off coupons or a vouchers telling customers how much they’ve saved against Tesco and Asda on brands.  

Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips said last month that Morrisons had not played as big a part in the vouchering activity as others in the market.

He said: “[Tesco] has used eight vouchers in the last 15 weeks so its obviously something they feel passionate about. We use vouchers selectively as part of an overall mechanic, sometimes we use fuel promotions, sometime vouchers or our Price Crunch.”

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said yesterday that the number of vouchers in the market was “unhelpful” and that Tesco had been forced to play its part for fear of losing out to its rivals.  

He said: “There’s been an unhelpful step up in the market in the last quarter. We played our part in it as we had planned.

“It’s not the long term solution. It’s about getting the right balance of price, promotions, quality and service. It shows that across the market we are all on the side of the customer.”