Asda has decided to go in for the kill by price matching against its biggest competitors Aldi and Lidl, in a move the company hopes will reassure consumers of its value credentials.
What is price matching?
Price matching is a way in which brands match a lower product price from a competitor. Brands use this strategy to save time and money as customers get a lower price without having to visit a competitor. It has become increasingly commonplace in the UK supermarket sector.
Why has Asda introduced price matching?
Asda has consistently been the cheapest of the traditional supermarkets, with the company citing their 26 year in a row winning streak for The Grocer’s cheapest full-service supermarket award.
The purpose of the price match campaign is to remind customers of that offering.
As David Hills, Chief Customer Officer for Asda says, by using a price matching strategy, Asda is hoping to put a badge on those prices and remind customers that they’re not going to be beaten in the market.
Has it worked?
Asda has price matched 100s of its products against comparable ranges in both Lidl and Aldi, and in 12 weeks to 22nd January, total consumer spend in Asda grew by 2.1% versus the same period last year.
However, this was significantly lower than Aldi and Lidl who experienced 11.9% and 7.2% growth respectively.
However, according to YouGove’s BrandIndex-which measures consumer perception of brands- Asda rated the highest for value for money amongst the “big four” of it, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, with a score of 28.
Work remains to be done however, as the same index shows Aldi and Lidl with scores of 57.5 and 54.2 for value for money.
Vivek Rajkhowa 
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