Prices to drop at Shropshire supermarkets in back-to-school battle
Prices are set to drop in Shropshire's supermarkets as they try to lure customers during the crucial back-to-school period.
Britain's main stores are taking part in a furious battle to claw back custom lost by the rise of cut-price supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl.
That means better deals for shoppers as a host of special deals and price cuts are rolled out.
Sainsbury's, which last month regained the title of Britain's second-biggest supermarket, will extend its 'brand match' promise on thousands of items online for the first time. The initiative, which has been running since 2011, gives shoppers a coupon to the value of the difference if the branded grocery goods they buy would have been cheaper at Asda.
Tesco is also preparing for a more aggressive attack following a review of the ranges and categories it sells. It is understood the supermarket has scrapped some types of Special K cereal and removed more than 100 coffee and tea products from its shelves. A spokesman said that the decision had been taken to increase availability of its own-brand cereal lines and give more shelf space to coffee pods, which are becoming increasingly popular.
Most of the discounting and product review activity is expected to come in the second week of September, when most children go back to school. The period is seen as intensely competitive for the nation's supermarkets.
Sainsbury's this week launched a 25 per cent discount on school stationery in its stores across Shropshire, while Asda is offering deals such as two blouses for £3.
Morrisons will also be running promotions on school uniforms, but will not be playing a large part in the price war. Instead, it is understood the group will launch a huge in-store campaign to flag up its manufacturing links. Signposts for 'Food made by Morrisons' are expected to be rolled out on products such as the fish smoked in its factory in Grimsby or burgers that are made by its butchers on site.
The moves are part of a battle by Britain's biggest named stores as they are squeezed by discount retailers at one end of the market and upmarket Waitrose at the other. Sainsbury's recently cut prices on 1,200 product lines and was last month named the second most popular store behind Tesco.
In January Tesco said it would be cutting up to 30pc of the products on its shelves after saying that shoppers were baffled by the range of 90,000 items. It offers 228 different types of air freshener, for example, and currently sells three-and-a-half times as many products as Asda. It is aiming to cut this to around two-and-a-half times.
