Insight: supermarket promotions at lowest level for 11 years
New figures have revealed that the proportion of consumer spend at UK supermarkets that goes on items on promotion has reached its lowest level in 11 years.
According to data from Nielsen, 26% of spend at UK supermarkets went on products with temporary price cuts or multi-buy offers in the four weeks ending 25 March.
The company found that the reduction in promotional spend was across all categories but was much faster in supermarket’s own or private label spend with just 18% of sales in the last year attributed to promotional spend compared to branded goods at 41%.
Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight, said: “The last few years, have seen about a third of the typical supermarket shopping bill going on promotional items. However, to be more price competitive, supermarkets have turned temporary price reductions into permanent cuts, so there’s less promotional activity as many prices are cheaper all-year round.
“There’s also been a shift away from multi-buy to simpler price cuts, which is in tune with shopper needs to make it easier to manage their basket spend.”
Nielsen’s research foud that overall year-on-year takings at supermarket tills during the four weeks ending 25 March fell by 2.6% as the timing of Easter this year negatively impacted comparative sales.
