To give shoppers peace of mind and retain customers, many retailers have pledged to keep prices static on key products. Boots this week revealed it will lock the prices of 1,500 products until the end of the year.
Retail Gazette rounds up the big retailers that have frozen prices this year.
Iceland
Iceland was one of the first retailers to freeze prices after promising to keep more than 60 items at £1 until the end of the year, both in store and online.
Iceland managing director Richard Walker said at the start of the year that this will help to keep weekly grocery shopping as affordable as possible.
The retailer did not stop there. Iceland and The Food Warehouse launched a new discount exclusively for over 60s that means they will receive 10% off their shopping on Tuesdays.
The retailer said it decided to launch the offer after Age UK recently revealed that three-quarters of older people in the UK (9.4 million) are worried about the rising cost of living.
Boots
Health and beauty retailer Boots is the latest to announce a Price Lock Promise to ensure over 1,500 products “remain affordable” for customers.
Prices will be locked until the end of the year.
Over 11,000 Boots brand products are now available from as little as 40p, with 100 lines priced £1 or less and 1,000 products at £2 or under.
Boots chief customer and commercial officer Steve Ager said the retailer reviewed the lines that customers buy most regularly and pulled together those products to include in the Price Lock Promise.
Superdrug
Rival health and beauty retailer Superdrug beat Boots to the chase as it unveiled its price promise, which froze the prices of over one hundred everyday essential products across personal care, beauty and healthcare, in April.
Just last month it added a further 30 products to its Price Freeze Promise as it found that 80% of its customers admitted they needed to switch to cheaper brands.
The retailer also launched a new Shop Smart campaign last month in partnership with poverty campaigner and activist Jack Monroe.
Superdrug and Monroe said they want to make sure people have access to the basic dignities in life, through a number of initiatives and offers.
Superdrug chief commercial officer Simon Comins said shoppers shouldn’t have to compromise when it comes to their health and beauty purchases.
Morrisons
Morrisons revealed in April that it has cut the prices of over 500 products including eggs, beef and nappies.
Morrisons chief executive David Potts said the price drops would make a noticeable difference to shoppers.
“We know that our customers are under real financial pressure at the moment and we want to play our part in helping them when it comes to the cost of grocery shopping,” he said.
A 30-pack of own-brand eggs will sell for £2.99 instead of the previous £3.40, while a pack of paracetamol will cost 29p, down from 65p.
Shoppers can also buy a 430g pack of Morrisons British diced beef for £3.59 rather than £3.99, and a 33-pack of Nutmeg-brand nappies for £1.29, down from £1.40.
Asda
Fellow Big Four supermarket Asda “dropped and locked” the prices of over 100 products until the end of the year, in an effort to compete against other grocers.
Products covered by the ‘dropped and locked’ promise include a range of household favourites such fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, rice and noodles, as well as soft drinks, desserts and frozen products. On average, prices will fall by 12%.
Asda’s Pulse of the Nation survey found that 9 in 10 consumers are concerned about inflationary pressures to their budgets and 87% are worried that grocery prices will increase this year.
Meanwhile, its Income Tracker found that shoppers suffered the biggest ever drop in disposable income in March with the nation’s lowest income families had 74% less disposable income in March compared to the same time last year.
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.
“We’re taking unprecedented action to give families some additional stability and certainty in their weekly shopping by lowering and locking over 100 prices until the end of the year.”
Weird Fish
Weird Fish revealed in the spring that it is freezing prices for the spring/summer trading period to help people amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The lifestyle retailer’s managing director, John Stockton said at the time that he hopes the initiative will keep a “loyal customer base”.
“Through strategic cost planning and collaboration with our strong network of suppliers, we’re pleased to be able to offer our spring/summer ranges to customers at prices reflective of previous years,” he said.
Gousto
Gousto, the food box provider, is freezing prices despite trading successfully thanks to people working from home.
It is planning more automation to cut costs, so it ill open more automated factories to supply its meal boxes in the UK.
The company’s automated factories use algorithms and machine learning to shorten delivery times and help with customisable orders.
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