Wal-Mart’s UK supermarket chain Asda is moving away from its ‘every day low prices,” strategy in favour of ‘buy one get one free’ offers, according to the Times newspaper.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Asda is planning a stream of the offers, known as “bogofs”, to tempt more customers into its stores, the paper said.
A spokesman for Asda said: “We have stepped up promotional activity. It’s a very competitive market. This is not at the expense of every day low prices (edlp), it is the cherry on the cake.”
However grocery retail experts said that Asda’s new pricing policy was a significant step. One said: “Promotional activity tends to erode price trust with customers even though there are lower prices. The idea of EDLP is to achieve a sense of permanence around prices that is very reassuring.”
Analysts said that the promotional activity by Asda showed that the supermarket was finding it difficult to keep prices sufficiently low to ensure it was the cheapest in the marketplace.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataOne said: “There is certainly a lot of pressure on Asda at the moment. There are slight signs that Tesco has taken the price lead — it is an extremely marginal thing. You do get a general sense that Asda is a little bit panicked.”
An Asda spokesman said that the group had been talking with suppliers and found that they were prepared to financially support one-off offers. He said the company had tried an offer for 25% off champagne earlier in the year which had been successful.
