Retail sales remain below their pre-pandemic levels, as the UK heads into a recession, the ONS recently revealed.
Meanwhile, GfK warned that the negative environment will deflate future spending plans, and cautious consumers could easily slow the UK economy further.
Iceland managing director, Richard Walker urged businesses earlier this year to do what they can to help consumers during this challenging time.
Earlier this summer he told The Leader: “It really is a time for business to step up and do more, but also for business to work with government to help form good policies and help policies that are already in place.
“[Businesses need to] advocate and push as far as they can to help customers, as it really is very serious.”
Many retailers have already risen to the challenge and have come up with innovative ways to help their customers.
Retail Gazette rounds up some of the genuinely helpful ways retailers have given their support.
Cheap Christmas dinners
With the festive season already here, Sainsbury’s revealed it is selling “an inflation-busting” Christmas roast dinner at less than £4 a head to help customers during the cost-of-living crisis.
The grocer has been able to hold the price of a traditional fresh Christmas dinner against last year to reassure customers that they will not be paying more despite inflation.
The Christmas roast dinner is cheaper than last year’s as Sainsbury’s invests a further £50 million in its value plan.
Poundland is offering its first ever Christmas dinner as customers continue to seek value during the festive period.
The main turkey course comes in at £5.00 per head for a family of five, while a full four-course meal is priced at £6.85.
Following the rollout of chilled and frozen food to around 500 stores, this will mark the first time shoppers can buy Christmas dinner from the retailer.
Iceland’s cost-of-living workshops and loans
Unsurprisingly Walker is practising what he preaches.
Last month Iceland launched a series of cost-of-living workshops in partnership with energy firm Utilita to help customers make more than £600 of annual savings as part of its ‘Shop Smart, Cook Savvy’ campaign launching this month.
The campaign will “help families better understand the cost of cooking, and help identify the most economical cooking methods available to them to make budgets stretch further”.
Iceland is not alone. Asda has also launched the ‘Essential Living Hub’, an online tool for shoppers to get money-saving tips, including how to save energy, budgeting, buying and cooking smarter, and ideas for free family days out.
With energy prices soaring, Iceland has also added energy-efficient cooking methods to its product packaging to help customers cut down on costs.
As inflation continues to surge, Iceland has also launched interest-free customer loans to help people through the cost-of-living crisis, in partnership with ethical lender Fair for You.
The frozen foods retailer will provide small loans initially with a £100 interest-free credit.
Value ranges
A plethora of retailers have launched new value ranges to help shoppers minimise their spend on everything from food to fashion.
Asda launched its Just Essentials range in May. The budget range, which replaced Smart Price, has proven so popular that the supermarket has this week started rationing how many items shoppers can buy until stock levels improve.
Meanwhile, in fashion online retailer Very has launched its new own-brand collection ‘Everyday’, featuring over 700 clothing and home products, including school uniforms, to offer families even greater value, convenience and flexibility.
The collection “aims to offer great quality, affordable essentials” and the clothes within the range “have been designed as versatile wardrobe staples to create the building blocks of stylish outfits that can be worn for many seasons”.
The Very Group retail managing director Robbie Feather says: “As the cost of living continues to rise, we know value for money matters more than ever to our customers”.
In health and beauty, Boots has launched budget range Everyday to “help customers continue to afford essential products”.
The Everyday range features 60 products including essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, period products and toothpaste.
Boots head of beauty, brands and exclusives Jenna Whittingham-Ward says: “At a time when many people are facing choices between heating and eating and we’re all bracing ourselves for a winter of feeling the pinch more than ever, I am delighted that we’re able to offer a no-compromise range to help customers make small everyday switches to help save money.”
Halfords makes car care cheaper
Last week boss of Halfords, Graham Stapleton, warned that the cost-of-living crisis is creating “a risk to road safety” as drivers buy older cars and struggle with maintenance costs.
With car care an essential, Halfords is helping customers to keep this affordable during these straitened times.
Last month Halfords dropped prices across all of its motoring categories and rolled out a range of initiatives to reduce car care costs.
It expanded its price match scheme to more motoring categories and pledged that its 600 Autocentres across the UK will provide best-in-class MOTs and car servicing at prices that are up to 25% cheaper than other dealerships.
Halfords chief customer officer Karen Bellairs says: “At Halfords, we see it as our duty to help drivers motor for less, and that’s why we’ve worked so hard to reduce prices across thousands of motoring essentials, strengthen our Price Match guarantee and made a new pledge that our Autocentres will always be up to 25% cheaper than car dealerships.”
Deals on tech essentials
Back in July, Currys introduced a series of deals to tackle inflation as Brits continue to struggle with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
The retailer launched a new 12-Month Pay Delay, allowing shoppers both the time and space to pay for the essential tech they need.
Currys chief commercial officer Ed Connolly says: “Our Inflation Busters have been designed specifically to help our customers buy essential products at this tough time.
“We know that it’s distressing when essential tech breaks down and we want to help people replace the appliances needed for everyday life quickly, easily and in the most affordable way possible.”
The retailer also launched its Price Lock promise, freezing the price of the most popular tech products to their lowest 2021 price.
The business has also relaunched its Cash for Trash offering, which allows customers to recycle old, broken or unused tech in exchange for vouchers that save customers money on new tech, even if it has no value at all.
Donating to food banks
Some are not lucky enough to be able to shop at mainstream retailers during the cost-of-living crisis. However, retailers have made efforts to ensure the poorest in society are catered for.
Tesco made it easier for shoppers to support food banks by adding a ‘round up’ option at the checkout earlier this year. Customers can opt to round up their grocery bill to the nearest pound, with the cash split between the Trussell Trust and FareShare.
Other retailers have upped how much they donate to charity.
Aldi donated 700,000 meals to charities, food banks and community groups during the school summer holidays, through a partnership with Neighbourly. It also pledged an additional 80,000 items from its Mamia baby range, including nappies and baby wipes, to help new parents and carers on low incomes.
Boots has donated 50,000 products to The Hygiene Bank charity, including soap, deodorant, toothbrushes and period products.
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