Welcome to ‘The Sauce’ – your weekly dollop of marketing news.
By Ashleigh Morris, our Content and Comms Lead.
This week we look at Morrisons’ price matching, Selco’s new sponsorship deal, and why user-generated content and reviews are key to purchase intent.
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Morrisons Matches the Competition
Another week, another supermarket story! This time it’s Morrisons who has caught our eye. Last week the supermarket giant announced plans to price match both Aldi and Lidl on a wide range of essentials.
Of the traditional ‘big four’ supermarkets in the UK, both Tesco and Sainsbury’s led the way with their price-matching of Aldi. This was followed by Asda, who just last month became the first to price match both Aldi and Lidl. Following in Asda’s footsteps, the Morrisons’ initiative will check the prices of over 200 products twice a week, to ensure they match or are lower than the Aldi and Lidl equivalents. The products will be identified on the Morrisons’ website and in-store signage.
The typically cheaper supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl, have rapidly expanded their market share in recent years, with Aldi displacing Morrisons in the ‘big four’ in September 2022*. Morrisons’ market share dropped in the 12 weeks to 21st January this year, to 8.8%, from 9.1% in the same period last year. Aldi and Lidl both saw gains over this same period, from 9.2% to 9.3%, and 7.1% to 7.5% respectively.
While the new price matching scheme focuses on Aldi and Lidl, in reality Morrisons needs this initiative to remain competitive with Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda too.
We’ve seen many B2C brands focus on pricing and retention strategies in recent months – check out The Sauce from 31st January for M&S’s focus on its value range and Primark’s pricing strategy, and from 15th February for details of McDonald’s optimising its pricing methodology.
With inflation remaining high and customer confidence low, we’re seeing B2B brands also considering their pricing strategy and looking at how they can ensure they stay competitive. Price matching is an effective way of positioning your brand directly against a competitor, but we’re also seeing businesses use sophisticated pricing strategies to encourage loyalty and retention without drawing direct comparisons to your competitors (and inadvertently highlighting their competitive price point).
Want to look at how your pricing strategy compares with your competitors and how you can adapt your marketing strategy to support growth? Contact me on ashleigh@awesomesaucemarketing.co.uk.
*Kantar
With inflation remaining high and customer confidence low, we’re seeing B2B brands also considering their pricing strategy and looking at how they can ensure they stay competitive.