LONDON (Reuters) – Sainsbury’s said it has become the first UK supermarket group to extend a scheme matching the prices of German-owned discounter Aldi on hundreds of products into its convenience stores, upping the competitive ante ahead of the key Christmas trading season. The group, which has an over 15% share of Britain’s grocery market, trailing only industry leader Tesco, said on Monday its Aldi Price Match scheme would now be available in over 800 convenience stores in addition to its almost 600 supermarkets.
Under CEO Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s has benefited from a strategy to match Aldi’s prices on over 500 products in its supermarkets, along with providing better offers for members of its popular Nectar loyalty scheme, financed by cutting costs, with industry data showing higher market share year-on-year.
The company said its Sainsbury’s Local convenience stores would now carry up to 200 products price matched to Aldi, including staples like milk, bread, butter, pasta, rice, chicken and tuna.
Tesco, No. 3 player Asda, and No. 5 Morrisons all price match Aldi on some products in their larger stores. Sainsbury’s will publish first half results on Nov. 7.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Mark Potter)
