Supermarket price cuts spell good news for shoppers

Sweeping price cuts have been announced by some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets as they launch a new year battle for customers.

Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury have responded to tough market conditions with reductions in a range of goods to kick off 2019.

• Tesco has cut prices by up to 50 per cent on hundreds of products in its centenary year.
• Morrisons has announced 20 per cent average price cuts to more than 930 products.
• Sainsbury’s kicked off its new year price promotions early last week ahead.

Another supermarket, Waitrose has cut prices by 30 per cent or more across the board but said this was one of its regular planned promotions.

Andy Atkinson of Morrisons said they were ‘cutting every penny we can on the essentials’after customers told them their January budgets are stretched.

A Tesco spokesperson said the price cuts were part of their 100^thanniversary celebrations.

“To celebrate our centenary and to mark 100 years of great value, we’re reducing the price of hundreds of products across the month.”

The price cuts come as the supermarkets – and many other major UK retailers – prepare to unveil their Christmas trading figures.

Morrisons is due to report tomorrow, Sainsbury’s on Wednesday and Tesco on Thursday.

Waitrose, part of the John Lewis Partnership, has announced a 19.2 per cent sales rise for the last week of December compared to the previous year.

All the big-name UK supermarkets have seen their businesses threatened by the arrival of low-cost German discount chains Aldi and Lidl in recent years.

This was illustrated when Aldi announced today that its sales had risen by 10 per cent in the period leading up to Christmas, hitting almost £1 billion in December.

Aldi has been expanding aggressively in the UK and plans to increase its stores here from 825 to 1200 by the end of 2025.

• Selfridges has reported that its sales were up by eight per cent in December compared with the same month in 2017.
• Homeware chain Dunelm said today that it expected first-half profits to be higher this year than last, as long as sales went on rising at their current rate.