Tesco is to scrap its Brand Guarantee scheme, saying instead it will plough the investment into everyday lower prices.
The supermarket giant will pull the plug on the scheme, which launched in 2015, on 16 July.
It came as Tesco said it was committing to cut the price on dozens more everyday products in the next few weeks, having already slashed the price of more than 260 products in the past month by between 10 and 50%.
The Brand Guarantee scheme offers customers a price match on branded goods when they buy 10 or more items (including at least one eligible branded product) in Tesco’s larger stores or online, with the difference refunded at the checkout.
It was a major weapon of Dave Lewis in Tesco’s recovery, having been set up to try to replicate and nullify the original Sainsbury’s Brand Match scheme.
However, Tesco has been increasingly left out on a limb, with Sainsbury’s ditching the Brand Match promotion in April 2016 as the number of transactions it applied to dwindled.
Likewise, Tesco said today fewer than one in eight transactions received any refund at all and claimed a majority of customers said they would prefer everyday prices instead.
“Since Brand Guarantee launched in 2015, we have continued to invest in simpler, lower everyday prices,” said Alessandra Bellini, chief customer officer at Tesco. “As a result, the scheme is far less relevant for our customers today, and so we are withdrawing it as we focus on offering customers even more straightforward value for money at the shelf edge.
“In recent weeks, we’ve already reduced the prices of over 260 popular products, including own brand and branded favourites, and we’ll continue to work hard to offer our customers great quality food at great prices.”
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