Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts is set to invest £550 million to ensure prices are kept low during the next two years.
This comes as the Big 4 grocer looks to stop shoppers from switching to its discounter competitors as consumers search for the cheapest prices through the cost-of-living crisis.
Roberts told the Mail on Sunday that Sainsbury’s will “take on Aldi” and “invest £550m over two years in being more competitive”.
As food price inflation hit 16.4% last month, the supermarket giant is looking to keep costs down and prices low, with £15m set aside specifically to battle this.
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“It is really tough. Customers are watching every penny, every pound,” Roberts said.
“On a lot of products that people buy every week, we are price matching to Aldi. So they are getting Sainsbury’s quality and an Aldi price.”
In June, Sainsbury’s increased the cash investment into its campaign to match Aldi’s prices, covering around 250 products across its Quality range.
As a result, Roberts said that the grocery retailer is “seeing more customers coming back to us from the discounters.
“Do you want to go to lots of places for what you need or one place? Time is precious, not just money,” he said, adding that while Sainsbury’s has over 30,000 products, a discounter’s limited range can’t match its own offerings.
This comes as Sainsbury’s has 37.8% more product promotions this Christmas than it did last year as it takes the lead against other UK supermarkets.
The research from The Grocer using Assosia data found that while it offered the least amount of promotions this time in 2021, Sainsbury’s now has the most.
