Anyone who has visited a Marks & Spencer store recently may have noticed that something is slightly different.
M&S – a supermarket widely known for being more expensive than other food retailers – has cut prices to keep up with competitors.
In a move to win over customers, the supermarket has been making a number of its products cheaper.
Rivals Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s are all known for their affordable prices – so M&S has slashed costs in a bit to get customers visiting the supermarket for their weekly food shops.
It hopes customers will choose the supermarket on a regular basis, rather at special occasions or as a treat.
The bold move seems to be paying off too, as food sales appear to be rising.
According to recent results, sales are up by 1.2% and the chain seems to be growing faster than the rest of the market.
Emma-Lou Montgomery, from Fidelity Personal Investing, said: “M&S is clearly pulling out all the stops in a bid to turn its business around.
“It’s going head-to-head with the lower-cost supermarkets with hundreds of price reductions across its food range. “
Prices are dropping at M&S (Credit: PA)
In a statement, M&S said, ‘Over the past year the price of more than 400 high volume lines has been reduced by over 10%.
‘Investment was focused on core categories such as bakery, milk, meat and produce; for example, vitamin D rich bread reduced from £1.15 to 65 pence and a rolling programme of ‘fresh market specials’.’
The retailer also plans to win over the hearts of families. Recently, it launched its Plant Kitchen and Cook With ranges, in a bid to do so.
M&S said, “These early steps to attract families and broaden customer shopping occasions have produced encouraging results.”
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Food waste and product availability are also priorities for M&S. So much so, the chain is currently testing a new operating model which it hopes to roll out across 85 locations.
M&S added, “Initial results have demonstrated a significant improvement in availability and waste levels.
“Results will be assessed of the larger group following peak trading, before a wider roll out in 2020.”
