Waitrose managing director Mark Price believes the ferocious price war that has gripped the grocery market will come to an end later this year.
- Price predicts supermarket price war will end this year
- Waitrose believes market has been “brought into line” with discounters
- Comments come as Waitrose launches Pick Your Own Offers scheme
Discount duo Aldi and Lidl have wooed shoppers with their price points, forcing their more established competitors to invest heavily in price.
The big four have ploughed hundreds of millions of pounds into slashing prices this year in a bid to prevent shoppers defecting to their German rivals, while the Co-op revealed its own plans to invest £125m in price earlier this week.
“The heavy lifting in bringing the market into line with the discounters is, to a large extent, done.”
Mark Price, Waitrose
Waitrose unveiled its own fightback on Wednesday in the form of its Pick Your Own Offers initiative, allowing its loyalty card holders to choose 10 items on which to receive a 20% discount every time they shop at the upmarket grocer.
Price believes the scheme will drive loyalty to Waitrose and to specific brands, while also offering customers better value on their grocery shop.
‘Heavy lifting’
But Price thinks the price war Waitrose has been involved in is now coming to an end. He said: “If I had to place a bet, I’d probably say it will happen in the fourth quarter of this year, around October or November.
“In terms of matching the general discounters, I think people are pretty well there now. We’ve seen milk, eggs, butter, fruit and veg all come in at broadly comparable prices.
“The heavy lifting in bringing the market into line with the discounters is, to a large extent, done.”
Price admitted that Waitrose’s decision to up the ante was a “gamble”, which could cost the grocer “£5m a week or more”.
There are currently 5.7 million myWaitrose card holders who are eligible to take part in the Pick Your Own Offers scheme.
No comments yet