Morrison’s cuts prices after bumper Christmas sales

Morrison’s, the UK’s fourth-largest retailer, has cut prices on a further 800 items in the last week as the supermarket seeks to attract cash-strapped shoppers after the Christmas period. This brings the total number of products to have their prices reduced under the retailer’s “price crunch” campaign to about 1,500 items, with the average price cut close to 20%.

Morrison’s also reported sales growth of 2.9% for its Christmas sales period – the strongest growth the retailer has seen in seven years.

Strong sales of fruit and vegetables, alcohol and a new upmarket range were the main drivers behind the Christmas sales growth.

Morrison’s chief executive David Potts said the supermarket had found its “mojo” and was becoming more relevant to shoppers again.

Food price inflation

This latest wave of price cuts announced by Morrison’s comes in the same week that research firm Kantar Worldpanel reported that grocery prices in the UK rose by 0.2% in the 12 weeks to 1 January, the first time in just over two years that food prices have gone up.

Morrison’s “price crunch” campaign highlights just how incredibly competitive the UK grocery retail market has become. Food prices in the UK have been deflationary for the last two years as the traditional big four supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrison’s) invest in lower prices to defend market share from the German discounters.