Australian shoppers could soon see significant savings to their weekly grocery shop, with inferences that Coles and Woolworths might be entering an all-out price war.
Analysts say that since Coles and Woolworths slashed prices of products such as Kirks soft drinks, Energiser batteries, Cadbury chocolates and Morning Fresh dishwashing liquid by as much as 50 per cent over Easter, the likelihood of a price war seems to be imminent.
This news comes after the release of survey results last week, which indicated that 75 per cent of Australians want to see more competition between Woolworths and Coles to ensure a fairer environment for customers.
In February Woolworths indicated its plans to put more than $500 million towards reducing prices and improving supermarket service. Since that time, Woolworths, Coles and Metcash’s IGA have all cut shelf prices on hundreds of products and increased the frequency of their promotions.
However, in light of the impending price war, Woolworths has been advised to scrap its weekly specials and price promotion sales, such as Cheap Cheap, and instead focus on applying deeper cuts to everyday prices. In a bid to limit the damage to sales and margins brought on by an impending grocery price war, Global firm UBS, which provides financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients, has instructed Woolworths to simplify marketing campaigns and work on being proactive rather than reactive to Coles and ALDI.
Meanwhile, in the past few weeks, Coles has cut everyday prices on a large range of basic products, including sugar, cream and tuna.
All this turmoil within the supermarket retail industry could result in significant financial savings for all Aussie shoppers, particularly those living on a tight budget.
Read more at The Age.
