Supermarkets, Price reduction | Price war deals: additional price cuts on 160 items

– We have had great growth in the sales of the cheapest products, which is why they are popular with customers. Now many are in a difficult situation and have to turn the crown, and then it is important to reduce the price of the most affordable products, says Harald Kristiansen, communications manager at Coop.

The price cut will not be for a specific limited period, but prices will be adjusted if the chain receives changes in prices and purchasing conditions.

– We want prices to be as low as possible for as long as possible, says Kristiansen.

The prices of the 160 items will be reduced by between five and 37.7 percent.

See the list of all products at the discounted price below in the case.

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Price war

This is not the first time that low price chains have lowered prices during the corona pandemic. Kiwi has implemented three price cuts since April, but these have been for a limited period of time. Both Rema 1000 and Extra followed suit and lowered prices.

Also read: Kiwi cuts prices once again: Starts price war on more than a hundred items

– Are you inspired by the Kiwi price cuts?

– No, it was Extra who in its time began with price cut campaigns, which are added to our weekly offers. Now it is our turn once again to make a contribution to the clients, who are also our co-owners, in a difficult period, says Kristiansen.

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From experience, he believes that competitors will follow Extra and implement a price cut themselves.

– Everything indicates that when a short chain, the others follow. I think they look at their own brands and see if they have similar products that they price, he says, adding:

– This is good for customers!

Feel free to give your opinion in the survey before reading further, the article continues below.

Anniversary

Kristiansen says the price cut is part of Coop’s anniversary celebration.

– 40 years have passed since Coop, as the first grocery player, launched its own product line with cheap products under the name “Blue-white goods”. The series changed its name to Xtra in 2004, he says.

He says the Xtra series is popular with his customers.

– We have never sold so many of these items before. Nationwide, we have sold products for more than 1 billion kronor so far in 2020 and with the price cut we expect sales to increase even more, he says.

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The Xtra series includes everything from frozen products to dry goods and fruits and vegetables.

– With this series we also reduce food waste, because there are, for example, vegetables with different sizes and shapes that may not be ideal, but still have good quality, explains Kristiansen.

According to Nielsen’s second-quarter report, which came out this summer, grocery chain own brands now have a 17.7 percent share of the total market, and have increased their share by 0.4 percentage points compared to the corresponding period of last year.

– In all Coop daily chains in the Nordic region, Xtra is the cheapest alternative, says Kristiansen.

Here is the list of the discounted items:

– Worried about Rema

Tor Wallin Andreassen, professor at the Norwegian School of Management and an expert in marketing and innovation, believes that Extra is absolutely right to take social responsibility and cut prices in a difficult period.

– These social measures create relative attractiveness for the supplier, giving them financial benefits through increased customer loyalty, he tells Nettavisen.

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At the same time, he thinks it’s nice that they are paying homage to the “blue and white appliances” turning 40, of which the Xtra series is the successor.

– The campaign they had for this series when it was released was a stroke of genius, he says.

Andreassen explains that Coop in the ad campaigns said that they would not spend money on advertising, but would save money for customers by having blue and white appliances.

– This was marketing and branding of own products in itself. This was such a good market move that the series deserves praise, he says.

Also read: That’s why Coop drops soap when they wash the carts

Andreassen thinks it’s good that Extra responds to Kiwi, who says they never give in on price, showing that Extra doesn’t want to be overshadowed by them. He believes Kiwi can give substance to its motto by following Coop’s price cut.

Andreassen is more concerned about what Rema will do and asks if Rema will keep up with the price cuts.

– They have struggled with margins and it is questionable whether Rema can respond to this price cut. If they don’t keep up, consumers will lose because there will be less price competition, he says.

On Monday morning, Nettavisen contacted Kiwi and Rema 1000 to find out if they were following up, but has yet to receive a response.