Promotional savings down across big five for first time this year
The Grocer
For the first time this year, shoppers are getting lower average savings on promotions across all of the big five supermarkets.
Although the major mults continued to increase the number of featured space promotional offers last month, average % savings were down across the board – both month on month and year on year.
Average % savings have been on a downward curve for several months, but Tesco was previously bucking the trend by continuing to offer better average savings year on year. However, last month average % savings at the supermarket were down 7.45% year on year [PromoDynamic Retailers 4 w/e 3 July 2016].
Sainsbury’s saw the biggest monthly fall in average % savings – down 2.57% compared with the previous month – while The Co-op saw the biggest annual fall in average % savings, down 13.9% year on year.
This was despite Tesco, Sainsbury’s and The Co-op all increasing the number of featured space promotions in their stores. Morrisons and Waitrose also ramped up the number of deals, with only Asda offering fewer (-2.05%).
“All retailers except Asda have increased their featured space promotional offers,” says Kay Staniland, Assosia director. “But for the first time this year, whilst consumers are getting more choice of goods on promotion, the average % saving is down for all retailers both month on month and year on year.”
The drop in average % savings reflects a move away from half price to ‘save’, which typically offers a 25%-30% saving rather than 50% off, says Staniland. This was most noticeable at Morrisons, which cut half-price deals by 24% year on year, while increasing ‘save’ deals by 27%. But Sainsbury’s (-2.1%), the Co-op (-5.7%), Tesco (-8.7%) and Waitrose (-0.3%) also cut half-price deals while ramping up ‘save’ offers.
Featured Space Analysis conducted by Assosia.
Asda | Co-op | Morrisons | Sainsbury’s | Tesco | Waitrose | |
Number of offers | 2393 | 881 | 2557 | 3200 | 2415 | 1314 |
Number last month | 2408 | 866 | 2468 | 2563 | 2385 | 1304 |
% change m-o-m | -0.62% | 1.73% | 3.61% | 24.85% | 1.26% | 0.77% |
Number last year | 2443 | 859 | 2237 | 2954 | 2410 | 1180 |
% change on last year | -2.05% | 2.56% | 14.30% | 8.33% | 0.21% | 11.36% |
Average start price (£) per UNIT | £3.86 | £4.42 | £4.17 | £5.01 | £4.59 | £6.31 |
Typical Average TOTAL £ saving | £1.39 | £1.45 | £1.49 | £1.36 | £1.35 | £2.17 |
Typical Average TOTAL % saving | 28.0% | 31.8% | 32.1% | 27.6% | 29.6% | 30.2% |
Average % saving last month | 28.1% | 32.1% | 32.2% | 28.3% | 30.2% | 30.2% |
% savings change m-o-m | -0.41% | -0.86% | -0.13% | -2.57% | -1.82% | -0.17% |
Average % saving last year | 29.0% | 37.0% | 36.4% | 29.2% | 32.0% | 32.1% |
% savings change on last year | -3.43% | -13.94% | -11.86% | -5.54% | -7.45% | -6.02% |
Current Brand:own-label ratio | 88:12 | 65:35 | 89:11 | 81:19 | 82:18 | 87:13 |
Ratio 1 year ago | 89:11 | 75:25 | 88:12 | 79:21 | 81:19 | 85:15 |
Average % saving (branded) | 29.1% | 35.4% | 33.0% | 28.2% | 30.6% | 30.1% |
Average % saving (o/l) | 19.7% | 25.1% | 24.7% | 25.1% | 25.2% | 30.6% |
Published in The Grocer, 14 July 2016