TMCnet News
Retail: Morrisons' sales rise by 2.4% after price cutting(Guardian (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Morrisons reported its first month of sales growth in more than nine months as the supermarket's price cuts appear to be bearing fruit in the face of a threatened marketing push from Lidl. The Bradford-based chain reported a sales rise of 2.4% in the four weeks to 17 August, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, after cutting prices on 1,200 products The performance was boosted by a big voucher promotion on meat and fresh produce, but analysts suggested that it could mark the beginning of a fightback by the leading grocers against the rise of the discounters. Aldi, Lidl and the much smaller Farm Foods continue to grow at a very rapid pace with sales up by 29%, 18% and 8% respectively in the 12 weeks to 17 August, though that was a slowdown from previous quarters. With shoppers' available cash gradually increasing, Tesco is likely to sharpen prices further under its new boss and price cuts at Asda well under way, Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, said the discounters might find it tough to keep up their pace of growth this year. Lidl yesterday stepped up the fight with the launch of a pounds 20m "Lidl surprises" TV ad campaign flagging its fresh British produce. The retailer said it expects sales in the UK to rise 20% to top pounds 4bn by the end of this year. Retailers are fighting to grab market share, after growing at the slowest pace in a decade, increasing by 0.8% in 12 weeks to 17 August, according to Kantar. The supermarket price war meant prices rose by 0.2% over the summer. Grocery price inflation fell for the 11th consecutive quarter to its lowest level since October 2006, according to the latest figures from Kantar. Price cuts on staples such as vegetables, milk and bread all drove down inflation. Of Britain's six biggest supermarkets, only Asda and Waitrose managed to increase their share of the market in the 12 week period while Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and the Co-op all lost ground. Sarah Butler (c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |