LONDON (Brand Republic) 鈥 Tesco is re-igniting the supermarket price-cutting wars with a plan to slash up to £70m from its prices in order to entice customers away from rivals Sainsbury鈥檚 and Safeway.
Details of the plans, codenamed 鈥淧roject Gordon鈥, will be released later this month. In a memo leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, marketing director Tim Mason revealed that while Tesco had invested £1bn in price cuts on 8,000 lines since 1996, many Safeway and Sainsbury鈥檚 customers did not think Tesco was cheaper. It was vital to get the price message across more effectively, he said.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart is taking on the UK鈥檚 high-street jewellers by launching jewellery shops in its 241 Asda stores, the first opening near Manchester in April. Wal-Mart is the world鈥檚 biggest retailer of jewellery and watches. Its annual US sales alone top £3bn 鈥 more than the whole of the UK market.
David Miles, head of Asda鈥檚 speciality division, said it planned to roll out between 15 to 20 stores before Christmas and the rest of the chain after that.