Sainsbury's and Asda merger 'could push up prices' - MSE News
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Hello - I am / was a regular online asda groceries shopper and always found their pricing to be competitive (excluding discounters - aldi / lidl). In recent months, i have noticed that my regular purchases on average have had a notable price increase of 20p per item. Is anyone else noticing this and do you think that it has anything to do with the prospective merger of Sainsburys? i.e. - Asda increasing to be more in line with Sainsburys?
On an average shop this mounts up significantly. Has anyone else noticed / experienced this? Comments would be appreciated... Many Thanks0 -
No although TBH I don't go that often because the one nearest me is a hellhole.priorygirl wrote: »Hello - I am / was a regular online asda groceries shopper and always found their pricing to be competitive (excluding discounters - aldi / lidl). In recent months, i have noticed that my regular purchases on average have had a notable price increase of 20p per item. Is anyone else noticing this and do you think that it has anything to do with the prospective merger of Sainsburys? i.e. - Asda increasing to be more in line with Sainsburys?
On an average shop this mounts up significantly. Has anyone else noticed / experienced this? Comments would be appreciated... Many Thanks
I did see though that Sainsburys/Asda are disagreeing with the CMA and are inviting an independent body to verify £1 billion of price cuts.
According to The Guardian, Tesco has 27.7% market share and if Sainsbury's/Asda went ahead they would between them have over 31% and presumably that's before any stores are sold.
Not that I'm either "for" or "against" but it does make you wonder why it looks like Tesco are being protected from more competition? After all, both Sainsburys and Asda already exist and here's an opportunity to reduce the competition in terms of their total store numbers with the opportunity for others to buy. It's not the first time it's happened. It's the scale that's different. And as has been pointed out, if they don't get it right Sainsburys/Asda would suffer even more losses to Lidl/Aldi etc.0 -
I think the discounter (Lidl/Aldi) ship has now well and truly sailed, and their level of popularity will not be undermined by anything other than a very similar discounted proposition. When I shop elsewhere, it's like entering an alternate world of often much higher prices for seemingly identical products. In the worst cases, the supermarkets are charging nearly twice the discounter price, and I could cite a long list of products where this is the case.
I also like that L & A prices seem to be much more stable than other supermarkets, with some products having been the same price over considerable periods of time (years). Often small increases in price are reversed by L&A within a matter of weeks - presumably if they see a drop-off in sales volumes on those lines.
Aldi & Lidl aren't perfect, and all of those benefits come at the cost of reduced range and customer service, but as usual... you pays your money and takes your choice.
I actually don't think that a prospective Asda/Sainsburys merger would have much effect on all of that. If Asda were financially able to compete with L&A prices then they would presumably have done that already. There are also other valid reasons to block the merger, and I think that the regulator is right to have raised concerns.0 -
I went into Lidl the other day and for comparible items were no better than Asda, with considerably less choice. There are some items worth just going for at Lidl but I think they increased prices a while back so are less cheap than they were.
The revised Asda/Sainsburys bid was publicised a few days back that Sainsburys wouldn't put more than 3.5p per litre profit per litre over cost, Asda to keep with current policy on pricing (yippee as cheapest), both stores will pay suppliers in 14 days from invoices, and importantly all essential shopping items to be 10% cheaper than other supermarkets.
That I presume, could mean wombling returns - after all they can't prove their items being cheaper if they don't compare and offer the difference back if they fail to delivery. That's what APGs were about after all, it didn't cover all items, many excluded including "different amounts in packaging", and any discounted items came off the end saving; however it was often quite the case that a receipt was worth £1-£30 if you were very lucky indeed. Let's see!0 -
Merger blocked by CMA. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-480485960
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Good. It wasn't in the consumer's interest for it to proceed. There would have been less stores, less "own brand" items as both stores have their own "own brand" items for similar items however of course one is cheaper or better than the other so there is choice, if both companies did merge then they would choose which to keep (not the consumer), meaning less choice to the consumer and more power to Sainsburys. Also as the large supermarket brands have shown, being larger means less incentive to treat suppliers and farmers nicely, or pay what the going rate is due to less competition and also greater buying power, while at the same time having less incentive to not increase prices to customers.
Asda are cheaper on the majority of items compared to other major players including Sainsburys; in fact Sainsburys seem to have increased their prices a lot recently in order to offer "reduced" prices on some items however if they had merged we'd be paying closer to Sainsburys prices than Asda. I suspect the promise of Sainsburys to reduce items for the merger would have in reality meant cheaper Sainsburys but more expensive Asda (for one combined price) so technically correct but in reality more cost to the consumer who uses Asda.0 -
I went into Lidl the other day and for comparible items were no better than Asda, with considerably less choice. There are some items worth just going for at Lidl but I think they increased prices a while back so are less cheap than they were.
Lidl is something of a challenge for anyone who doesn't regularly shop there - there are unfamiliar brands and products, sometimes very limited ranges and supermarket quality is always a matter of trust.
Aldi is probably easier for price-matching, and I'd be surprised if like-for-like (own brand-own brand) comparison does not reveal savings of 10-25% (or more like 25-40% against brand-name goods). Having said that, the other supermarkets are always moving prices, and sometimes a product or product range ceases to have a clear margin against Aldi/Lidl prices.
Aldi/Lidl do not generally compete on branded goods, and do not stock a wide range of branded goods, either.
I think that the blocking of the Asda-Sainsburys merger is a good thing. I don't think it was ever in the interests of consumers.0 -
While I'm not in full support of an Asda/Sainsbury's merger it does strike me that it has simply allowed Tesco to continue it's dominance of the sector, with it's well over a quarter of the market.
Before any selloffs the combined Asda/Sainsbury's wouldn't be much larger than Tesco.
Does the CMA think that Tesco with their market share are having a similar effect on prices then, if they think that A/S would have a negative effect?
Like I said, I'm not trying to be pro-Sainsbury's.
But something seems "off" and especially after the CMA approved Tesco's £4 billion purchase of Bookers.
My personal feeling is that the market would decide the fate, and if Asda/Sainsbury's prices did indeed rise they would only lose more custom to their competitors.
As for the rates paid to suppliers as I said earlier, do Tesco not influence already and if not why should it be assumed that a competitor would?0 -
New chairman at CMA since that merger, now chaired by ex chair of Treasury Select committeeDonJo_King wrote: »But something seems "off" and especially after the CMA approved Tesco's £4 billion purchase of Bookers.Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens0 -
Bookers is not in the same sector though, it is a b2b wholesaler, so no direct competition implications. A bit like when Poundworld were selling to the indy poundshops.DonJo_King wrote: »But something seems "off" and especially after the CMA approved Tesco's £4 billion purchase of Bookers.0
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