Asda is scrapping its price matching scheme the ‘Asda Price Guarantee’ after eight years.
The Walmart-owned retailer said the APG, which was the first price-matching initiative launched by a major UK supermarket, would end on 3 October. The scheme was no longer as relevant to shoppers as when it launched in 2010, it claimed. It is also the last of such schemes still in use. Asda said it intends to reinvest the money it spends on it back in more everyday low prices.
Under the scheme, Asda customers can compare the price of their shopping versus Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose. The site compares the price of a basket of comparable products, and if Asda isn’t the cheapest, the supermarket will refund the difference plus 10% in a voucher to be used in stores.
However, it now said the APG was currently being used by less than 1% of its customers.
“Today, customers are savvier than ever on the price of their shopping. They have more price information at their fingertips than ever and they vote with their feet if they feel a retailer is off the mark on price,” said chief customer officer Andy Murray,
“When we asked them what they wanted us to focus on more than anything – the response was clear; invest everything you can in everyday low prices. They want us to get our prices low, and keep them that way.”
All of Asda’s big four rivals followed suit following the launch of the APG – Sainsbury’s launched Brand Match in 2011 but scrapped it in April 2016. Morrisons’ Match & More, which debuted in October 2014, came to an end a year later, while more recently Tesco shut down its Brand Guarantee initiative in July after three years.
Murray added: “It’s a decision we’ve not taken lightly because we love it dearly, but in reality, we know our customers don’t love it enough for us to keep it. Instead they want us to focus our investment on lowering our prices, and they’ll let us know if we’re falling out of step with the competition.”
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