The death of multibuy confectionery deals has been greatly exaggerated. Or so it would seem in Morrisons’ bid to go toe to toe with Tesco’s Clubcard Prices initiative, through deals that fly in the face of the founding principles of the government’s HFSS clampdown.

A half price deal for ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s is among the first of its exclusive promotions for loyalty card holders. Tomorrow, the promotions will ramp up into full Christmas gear, with two for £6 deals on a range of confectionery tubs including Quality Street, Roses, Celebrations and Heroes.

It comes in sharp contrast to Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which voluntarily ditched HFSS multibuys despite the government’s rowback on the proposals. That Morrisons decided not to go down the same route, as revealed by The Grocer in August, is fast becoming a very interesting decision.

How will rivals react if Morrisons starts shifting tubs of chocolates from brands like Cadbury, Mars and Nestlé by the bucket-load? That reaction will be especially interesting given suggestions the full government HFSS plans will never see the light of day – at least while the economic instability continues.

While campaigners will no doubt criticise the morals of the policy, it’s nonetheless good to see Morrisons on the front foot again, having seemingly lost some of its sparkle since its strong performance over the pandemic.

When it comes to taking on Clubcard Prices, Morrisons has its work cut out, considering Tesco has been going full throttle with its exclusive loyalty card promotions since 2020.

Earlier this month, Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said Clubcard was behind 75% of transactions across the business, having completely shifted the retailer’s promotional strategy and the mindset of consumers. As IGD global insights director Bryan Roberts says, shoppers these days feel “foolish” if they don’t have a Clubcard in Tesco.

It now seems hard to believe that before its launch, many experts were questioning the value of loyalty cards in the battle for hearts and minds.

Now as they battle to stem the exodus of shoppers to the discounters, the traditional supermarkets are back in fully fledged loyalty card wars.

In August, Asda rolled out its Asda Rewards programme nationwide following an initial trial at 16 stores. Morrisons’ latest move suggests it similarly sees the importance of a strong loyalty scheme in attracting and maintaining customers.

It has a long way to go to mirror Tesco’s success, but as the confectionery tubs are loaded into prime position in time for the Christmas ads kick-off, Morrisons may have stolen a march on the competition just at the right time.

 

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