£65 million is being invested by Sainsbury’s into its pricing next month as the pressure of customers’ budgets continues to soar.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of the chain, has promised the brand will stand with customers and try to help ease the inflation pressures. The pricing pledge is part of a wider £500 million investment commitment which comes as new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reveal customers witnessed a massive 9.3% food inflation in August, compared to the same month a year ago.
Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest grocery chain has said that £60 million of the new cash injection will go towards its food prices from September. It will go predominantly towards the Price Lock campaign.
The Price Lock campaign is a new initiative that freezes the price of a raft of its most popular products. Around 2,000 food products and household items have had their prices fixed for at least eight weeks, including a number of own label lines.
Sainsbury’s said funding will also go towards its price match campaign against discounter rival Aldi. Aldi and German rival Lidl have seen a jump in customer demand in recent months as cash-strapped shoppers have sought better deals for groceries as soaring energy bills continue to weigh on household spending.
Sainsbury’s said it would also use £5 million of its latest investment package to improve pricing at its Argos and Habitat homeware operations. MR Roberts added: “We know how tough this ‘back to school’ season is going to be for our customers.
“With families across the country facing big increases in their energy bills, the situation is serious and our most important job at Sainsbury’s is to help our customers in every way we can. We have made huge strides to lower prices since we launched our new plan but we are committed to going further.
“These are difficult times and all of us at Sainsbury’s are standing with our customers to ease the financial pressure they face.”
