Morrisons has joined the industry in implementing its own price match scheme, targeting items that feature in everyday baskets.
Included in its scheme are 183 products specifically targeting Aldi and Lidl, selecting the lowest price featured at either. When compared to other price matching schemes this is fairly modest with Tesco and Sainsburys price matching to over 500.
The composition of this scheme matches other initiatives in the industry, with 40% of matched items in the ambient food category and 30% in chilled foods. Where Morrisons has differed from competitors is an increased focus on household items, comprising 9% of the products in its scheme. For comparison, household items made up 3-4% of Asda's, Sainsburys and Tesco's.
The Morrisons price match campaign to Aldi and Lidl comes as Asda introduced a similar scheme last month, also targeting both discounters. However, despite ostensibly targeting both Lidl and Aldi, the latter is the main focus for Morrisons as it shows lower prices when compared to Lidl.
Of the 183 items within the scheme:
Asda's price match scheme launched at the start of January and is larger than Morrisons with 285 products included. Like Morrisons, ambient foods and chilled foods were a key offering, comprising of 47% and 34% of its scheme.
A key difference is the range Asda has been able to offer, including products across 43 categories, compared to the 32 at Morrisons. Compared to other retailers, pet products also made up a larger proportion of Asda's price match scheme.
Tesco offered a far more expansive scheme with 600 products price matched to Aldi. 43% of products in Tesco's scheme were ambient foods, followed by chilled foods at 30%.
Notably Tesco is the only retailer to include hair products in its price matching scheme, which includes brands such as TREsemme and Aussie.
Sainsburys has the largest price matching scheme in the industry, with products matched to Aldi in over 48 categories. Ambient foods comprised 45% of this scheme, followed by chilled foods at 30%.
Sainsburys has also invested most significantly in the frozen food sector with 13% of matched items in this category. This compares to 8% for Morrisons, and 6% for Asda and Tesco.