Morrisons cuts the cost of festive shopping favourites
MORRISONS HAS cut the cost of shopping at Christmas with the core basket of 100 customers’ favourite items being cut by 23p.
The basket includes the key items that customers regularly buy at Christmas including cranberry sauce, tin foil and brussel sprouts and is used by the company to judge its competitiveness during the festive season.
Bradford-based Morrisons said customers had told the firm they didn’t want the cost of Christmas to rise.
Anna Lane, customer service director at Morrisons, said: “We are cutting every penny we can to become even more competitive this Christmas and held many prices even where costs are rising. We want to help our customers stay within their Christmas budget.”
Morrisons said it has been able to hold most of the 100 prices, whilst there have been price reductions on items like cranberry sauce, mincemeat and vol-auvents, which have brought the total basket down by 23p.
This is the second year the group has managed to cut the cost of its Christmas basket which includes
items from its premium ‘The Best’ range such as its ‘The Best Mince Pies’, where the price has been held.
It also includes the main constituents of the Christmas dinner such as vegetables like brussel sprouts, parsnips, potatoes, onions, swedes and carrots, which continue to be priced at three for £1, the same as last year.
The current rate of grocery inflation in the wider market is 1.6 per cent, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Asda and Morrisons were the only two of the big four grocers to see positive sales growth over the past quarter as the grocery market grew at its slowest rate since March 2017, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel statistics.
Despite the uncertain political climate taking its toll on consumer confidence, shoppers are still willing to spend a bit extra on more expensive goods and Kantar said Christmas spending is expected to break records.
Leeds-based Asda was the best performer out of the big four with sales growth of 1.5 per cent in the 12 weeks to December 2. Bradford-based Morrisons saw growth of 0.5 per cent, whilst market leader Tesco was down 0.1 per cent and number two player Sainsbury’s was down 0.2 per cent.
The grocery market figures show the sector is now growing at 2.0 per cent.
We want to help customers stay within their Christmas budget. Anna Lane, customer service director at Morrisons