Sainsbury’s has increased the number of own-label products available in its Local convenience stores to make them more affordable to shoppers.
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts told The Telegraph that the supermarket giant had been working hard over the past year to achieve this, with more Aldi Price Match items available in its c-stores and having “doubled” the amount of its Stamford Street own-label range, which launched in May.
Around 200 products from the By Sainsbury’s range are also now stocked in these stores with varying products in each location, The Grocer reported.
Roberts said: “We’ve put more of those value items in those stores and customers prefer that because, at the end of the day, you’re going to a convenience store for a top-up.
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“Whereas in a larger store, you’re going to get more of the items you need for the next few days or the next week.”
The move comes as consumer watchdog Which? found that supermarket-branded convenience stores are not offering budget grocery lines in the most vulnerable areas, despite 66% of those on less that £21k per year shopping in a smaller store at least once a week.
Since these findings were published, Tesco has revamped its Express store offer, replacing 50 everyday items with own-brand alternatives that are on average more than 40% cheaper than the former products.
Morrisons has also introduced a range of entry level Savers products to over 500 Daily convenience stores which are priced the same as in its larger supermarkets.
Morrisons CEO David Potts vowed to make the change following a questioning from MPs in June, over concerns that supermarkets had been profiteering while consumers faced rising food prices.
