Beleaguered supermarket chain Morrisons is attempting to win back shoppers by re-launching and re-branding its Savers range.
This follows on from the supermarket giant’s price reduction across 820 products in January, with a further investment of £25 million last month across an additional 64 items, including own-brand fresh produce and cupboard essentials. The re-launch comes as Morrisons looks to stop shoppers from switching to the discount grocers, as it was found to have raised its prices more than any other major UK supermarket last year, leading to an exodus of shoppers.
The Bradford-based grocer began ‘rapidly’ hiking prices in June, causing it to lose more shoppers than rivals in 2022, according to a report by credit rating agency Moody’s. It was the only major supermarket to push up prices quicker than the German discounters Lidl and Aldi, according to the data.
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And the sharp increases led to Morrisons haemorrhaging market share, which led to it losing its spot as the UK’s fourth biggest grocer to Aldi last September.
In February, Morrisons CEO David Potts said that its previous cut was the “fifth significant price activity of the year,” with this set to be its sixth in just three months, but private label specialist Paul Stainton told The Grocer that Morrisons would be hoping its rebrand would have the same impact as Asda's yellow packaging did when it was unveiled last year. “I’m not surprised Morrisons is making this move," he said. "Despite its investment in price cuts, its value range is very bland and doesn’t really stand out. They will be looking to have the same impact as Asda Essentials which has made a point of having very bright packaging so it stands out in store.”
Last summer, Asda re-launched its value range with bright, yellow branding which some claimed acts as a ‘poverty marker’, however a spokesperson for Asda told Grocery Gazette at the time, that it didn’t “understand why anyone would feel embarrassed for saving money”.
Earlier this year, Morrisons announced it was around 130 prices on its Savers products to help customers feeling the financial squeeze this January. The discounts were be across Morrison’s fresh, frozen and household ranges. As well as its core Savers range, Morrisons 263 entry-level products include Morrisons Morrisons Wonky, and Morrisons Essentials.
David Potts, chief executive at Morrisons, said of the price cuts: “Our Savers range offers customers great value on the products they buy every day. “We want to do all we can to help when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping and by investing in the range and cutting the prices further, our customers will see a noticeable impact on their budgets at a time when they really need it.”
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