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Asda has announced it is to abandon its price guarantee, which saw shoppers refunded the difference if a competitor sold an item cheaper.
The supermarket is the last of the big three to axe the plan, a month after Tesco and two years after Sainsbury’s, said the scheme was no longer relevant following its merger with Sainsbury’s and added that it was looking to invest the money saved in lowering prices. The scheme will officially finish at the start of next month.
When the scheme was first launched in 2010, Asda promised customers it would see the cost of their weekly shop fall by 10%.
Asda chief customer officer, Andy Murray, said: “Today, the APG, while still the ironclad promise it always was, has become less and less relevant to customers, with less than 1% of customers using it. Customers 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.”
The decision comes as the big four struggle to keep up their share of the market with German supermarkets Aldi and Lidl currently holding the largest percentage. Last year Asda invested £100m in price cuts, while the merger with Sainsbury’s has been said to allow the supermarkets to reduce prices by a further 10%.
