Sainsbury’s CEO confident amid intensifying competition
Despite ongoing challenges from rising costs, he remains optimistic, emphasising the retailer’s expansion efforts, store refurbishments, and personalised offers through the Nectar app as key to staying competitive
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Sainsbury’s CEO, Simon Roberts, has acknowledged the rising competition in the supermarket sector following Asda’s decision to cut prices but remains confident in his company’s ability to stay ahead, according to The Times.
His remarks follow a 7.8% drop in Sainsbury’s shares, wiping out £487m in value after Asda’s pricing strategy was revealed.
In an interview with the newspaper, he said: “Nothing trumps value for money. Customers make decisions every day based on the price on the shelf, and that’s never changed.”
Under his leadership, Sainsbury’s has grown its market share from 14.9% to 15.7% and is projected to report a 7% increase in operating profits this year.
He added: “People are back in the office much more, so people are short of time again… that’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing this resurgence in the big weekly trolley shop.”
Despite ongoing challenges from rising costs, including higher national insurance and minimum wage expenses, he remains optimistic, emphasising the retailer’s expansion efforts, store refurbishments, and personalised offers through the Nectar app as key to staying competitive.
However, the supermarket’s recent decision to scale back its Aldi price match campaign underscores mounting pressure on pricing.
Following similar moves by Tesco and Asda, Sainsbury’s reduced the number of products in the scheme from 681 in November to 606 in February, cutting many own-label items in essential categories and raising concerns about the future of price-matching across the industry.
