Sainsbury’s hits back at Aldi as price war takes toll on tills

Sainsbury’s today hit back at suggestions Aldi and Lidl could eat its lunch, saying its prices have never been closer to the discounters’.

Despite reporting another fall in quarterly sales, chief executive Mike Coupe downplayed the threat posed by the German retailers, whose growth has triggered a fierce industry price war.

Like its big four rivals — Tesco, Morrisons and Asda — Sainsbury’s has fought back by slashing prices. It has also moved away from multi-buy promotions to regular low prices.

Referring to Aldi’s claims earlier this week that it remains significantly cheaper than mainstream competitors, Coupe said: “You can use whatever surveys you want to dress up whatever story you want. Our price position relative to discounters has never been sharper.”

Coupe also dismissed the assertion that Aldi and Lidl are set to push further into Sainsbury’s home turf of London and the South-East.

“The idea they are marching into the South-East is somewhat misguided. All the evidence we have… suggests that broadly speaking they are opening stores where they already exist, for Aldi in the North-West and the Midlands and Lidl in the South.”

Sainsbury’s reported a 1.1% fall in same-store sales in its second quarter.

That narrowly beat expectations, but compares unfavourably with Morrisons, which reported second-quarter sales growth of 2% earlier this month. Meanwhile, Tesco’s sales declines are slowing, according to the latest industry data.