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According the findings of for the , stark £1, £2 and £3 messages remain the order of the day on the shop floor.

Other notable findings include a rise in the promotion of own brand (especially in Sainsbury’s), take home POS (in the form of Asda wine carriers) and heavy promotion behind Tesco’s ClubCard 2.

Store highlights

Morrisons
Morrisons' in-store communications were predominantly based around simple price points featuring large pack shots of brands. This price-led messaging worked especially well on gondola ends while they were supported with straplines such as 'Price Crunch' and 'Better than Half Price'.

Surprisingly though there was little evidence of bogofs in-store and there was also a decline in the amount of free standing displays compared to July. However Coca-Cola was difficult to miss as it was strongly promoted at store entrances. In terms of POS tying up with promotional campaigns, McCoys was the winner in Morrisons with a strong presence around its 'gadget' competition.

Tesco
Much of Tesco's in-store effort was directed towards price messaging and the launch of ClubCard 2. Like Morrisons much of the price messaging came from simple price points, with most of the visible elements placed at the gondola ends. Again there was a lack in bogof promotions.

Lager and beer had a lot of exposure with pallets draped in price-point POS, a relatively new development for Tesco. Another unusual element Retail Why discovered was an 'exclusive to Tesco' offer on Walkers 18-pack multipack. A freestanding unit, complemented with images of Gary Lineker, was found in various parts of the store.

Sainsbury’s
The focus for Sainsbury’s was on its own label 'Back to Basics' campaign. The 'Basics Switch and Save' messaging dominates the store, running on boards at the store entrances, floor stickers, cut out hanging cards and shelf barkers. The POS also featured cutouts of strawberries etc to create stand out. 

Again there was strong price-led messaging around products that were likely to be popular over the last bank holiday of the summer (crisps, beers, dips, snacks), however there was a definite decline in bogof deals. 

Asda
Asda bucked the trend in terms own-brand promotion. Heavily promoted brands on gondola ends included Kellogg's, Uncle Ben's Rice, McVities and Heinz. Elsewhere the emphasis was clearly on value with £1, £2 and £3 messaging around the store and on pallets.

This worked particularly well on a Weetabix offer for a £3 family pack which was placed outside the category next to the magazines in eyeline of the checkouts. Unusually for Asda the POS was co-branded with a logo and pack image.

A clever extension of promotional POS was seen on Asda's wine carriers, featuring branding and messaging, and crossing the divide between promotional merchandise and POS.

The Results
Speaking about the results and the shift away from bogofs Retail Why managing director Helen Davies said: "Given the flurry of recent press interest in BOGOFs it was interesting to see a noticeable decline in this type of offer in-store. Research has historically shown that shoppers will select BOGOFs and even 3 for 2s above price discounts however the strong only £1 and better than half price messaging being adopted by some of the grocers must be having a striking effect on shoppers."