Tesco to Take Aldi and Lidl Approach on Some Products

08/01/08 This week leading UK retailer Tesco says it will throw a lifeline to customers looking to save money by expanding its price checking to include 2,000 lines sold at discount outlets such as Aldi and Lidl and offering more than 400 food and non-food items at half price throughout January.

Tesco said that it is focusing on the growing discount retail sector in a bid to ensure that customers do not have to compromise on quality or service to enjoy the lowest prices.

Tesco’s Commercial Director, Richard Brasher, said: “January is traditionally a time when consumers take a long hard look at their household budget in a bid to save money, but this year all the signs are that even more families will feel the pinch.

“We want to make sure that our customers don't start the New Year worrying about how to balance the budget. The best way Tesco can help customers is to work as hard as ever to keep the cost of their weekly shop as low as possible.”

Tesco says that it is Britain’s cheapest supermarket, as the independently- collected Price Check (www.tesco.com/todayattesco/pricecheck) consistently shows. No other supermarket enables customers to compare thousands of prices so that they can judge for themselves which supermarket is the cheapest, Tesco said.

In December, Tesco was cheaper on average each week than Asda on 1,658 lines, Sainsbury’s on 3,217 lines and Morrisons on 2,290 lines.

Tesco can now also match Aldi and Lidl on price on about 2,000 core lines so customers get Tesco quality at discount store prices. And they don’t have to sacrifice customer service.

To make this happen, Tesco has created a mock store in a secret location where discounter products are displayed and their price and quality analysed by Tesco buyers. The buyer’s job is to ensure that Tesco has a product that is better quality and at least matched on price for all 2000 lines checked. This is an exacting, ongoing process with prices checked every 4-6 weeks.

As a result of this work 300 new Tesco own-label lines were introduced to match discounters in 2007 and this number will increase to 500 early in 2008.

Said Richard Brasher: “Tesco was of course the first discount store to open in the UK decades before anyone else and has a long history of offering customers low prices, which is one of the reasons why so many people choose to shop with us. But over the years we have also developed products of unbeatable quality and invested in stores and staff to provide the best possible shopping trip.”

“Now as other discount stores expand into the UK and canny customers seek ever lower prices we cannot be complacent. Our promise to customers is that they will continue to get Tesco quality products, with the excellent Tesco shopping experience they demand at the best prices. In short Tesco will make sure that they will not have to compromise when it comes to their shopping bill,” he added.