Asda Announces Biggest Ever Price Cuts for a Decade

Throughout January the price of 3,600 essential products and cupboard staples including potatoes, carrots, grapes, bananas, milk, nappies, rice, bread, cheese and yoghurt, will be crushed in price, saving customers millions of pounds off their weekly shop.

5 Jan 2010 --- UK retailer Asda has announced that it is beginning its biggest price rollback for a decade, and declared it was upping the ante in its campaign to rid the industry of phoney price claims, publishing a three point customer checklist for 2010.

Throughout January the price of 3,600 essential products and cupboard staples including potatoes, carrots, grapes, bananas, milk, nappies, rice, bread, cheese and yoghurt, will be crushed in price, saving customers millions of pounds off their weekly shop. The reductions are long-term cuts, with the vast majority lasting a minimum of six to 12 weeks. The average price of the product will be rolled back by 13%.

While the price cuts are deep, it’s the breadth of cuts that make this the biggest at Asda for more than ten years, with one-in-five products across the store rolled back in price. As a result every Asda customer is set to benefit, no matter what their budget, or what they need to buy each week.

Asda’s latest comprehensive set of rollbacks follows extensive research by the retailer to establish what their customers’ biggest concerns were going into 2010, and the products they’d most like to see reduced in price. The response was so diverse it led Asda to aggressively roll back the widest range of products for a decade.

Customers also said they were looking for more “permanent” price cuts, not “short-term promos”, and on the things they actually “want to buy each and every week”, rather than “phoney half price deals” or “bogus BOGOFs”.

Darren Blackhurst, Asda’s chief merchandising officer said:“People are sick and tired of being tricked and deceived by dodgy claims and bogus BOGOFs. Unlike our rivals we’re lowering prices on a more permanent basis on the products people want to buy not just products we want to sell them. We also want people to check our prices every time they shop. In fact we love it when they do, as all the independent price checkers show that Asda has more low prices than any other supermarket.

“That’s why we’ve launched our three point checklist for the new decade which we’re calling on other stores to adopt. If they don’t, the industry risks being tarred with the same brush as the banks.”

Asda’s Three Point Customer Checklist for 2010:

1. You shouldn’t have to pay more depending on where you live – Asda has a national price every day of the year 2. Don’t fall for gimmicky price claims – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always use an independent price checker. 3. Don’t trust ‘buy one get one free’ offers – always ask what the starting price used to be, as the price may have been inflated to trick you.

According to Asda’s Pulse of the Nation panel, at the forefront of customers’ minds this month is eating and entertaining at home with the family, and they want help with lowering the cost of packed lunches with the kids going back to school.

They also want to eat more healthily after the Christmas splurge and want to keep waste in check so as a result will buy more frozen fruit, veg, meat and fish.

Families are also having to stock back up on core essentials to help get the house back to normal after the festive break, with big packs of toilet rolls, nappies, and cleaning products high on the agenda.

As a result Asda has drastically cut the price of thousands of high volume essential products that customers already have on their shopping lists.

Rick Bendel, Asda’s chief marketing officer said: “Our customers told us loud and clear what they wanted us to include in this rollback. But they have diverse needs, which is why this is our biggest campaign for a decade, on the widest range of products.

“They hate it when items are on a short-term promotion aren’t available when they need them. Instead they want to see more permanent reductions that deliver on our promise to have low prices every day, and every week of the year.

“Some customers also told us they were worried about prices going up due to VAT but as these cuts show our pricing plans for 2010 already far exceed the impact of any VAT increases.”

The rollbacks on offer are a combination of branded and Asda own label items across the entire store. They include cupboard staples, frozen food, Good for You ranges, fruit and veg, packed lunch staples, pet care and baby care.