Morrisons and Asda have reduced prices while Amazon has warned of price rises as the retail sector grapples with soaring inflation.
Morrisons has cut the prices of 500 of its products to help its customers tackle the rising cost of living, reducing prices on items such as eggs, rice and beef by an average of 13%.
The price cuts affect around 6% of Morrisons’ total sales volume, across refrigerated, frozen and ambient food categories, with an additional 180 more products added to discount deals and promotions.
Morrisons chief executive David Potts said: “We know that our customers are under real financial pressure at the moment, and we want to play our part in helping them when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping.”
Morrisons’ decision follows competitors Asda, who pledged to cut prices of 300 of its products from May.
Asda has also announced £73m in investments to help customers tackle the cost of living crisis.
The supermarket said it has “dropped and locked” the price of 100 family essentials including cereals, cheddar cheese and apples until the end of the year.
On average, prices have dropped by 12%, in addition to the new “Just Essentials” value range Asda announced last week.
The retailer has also pledged to increase the hourly pay of 120,000 shop floor workers to £10.10 per hour from July - an additional 60p above the national living wage, and supported by an in-store colleague discount.
In addition, colleagues have the opportunity to secure a £400 bonus at the end of the year, making Asda the UK’s highest-paying grocer.
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.
“We’re standing side by side with the families and communities who are juggling so many demands at the moment. We’re taking unprecedented action to give families some additional stability and certainty in their weekly shopping by lowering and locking over 100 prices until the end of the year. We’re also proud to be investing in increasing the pay for our hardworking store colleagues and continuing to support the communities we are part of.”
While grocers are slashing prices, Amazon has warned of price rises for sellers who use its logistics services.
The retail giant said that from next month it will add a “fuel and inflation surcharge” of 4.3% to fulfilment fees for Amazon sellers.
The fee will be applied to those who use Amazon’s services to store stock or use its supply chain and shipping network, and is expected to be passed onto consumers.
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said in a letter last week that the fees were due to the impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
He added: “At a certain point, you can’t keep absorbing all those costs and run a business that’s economic.”
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