Determined to “focus” on its own prices rather than matching competitors, Asda has ditched the scheme just 12 months after launch.
Asda has dropped its Aldi and Lidl price match scheme 12 months after it was introduced, in a bid to focus on its own prices “not competitor comparisons”.
The supermarket chain is set to launch its largest ‘Rollback’ price cuts campaign in years. This follows the launch earlier this month of the Big Jan Price Drop initiative, which saw Asda reduce the price of more than 2,500 household staples by an average of 26%.
“We’re focused on our own great Asda Prices not competitor comparisons,” an Asda spokesperson told Marketing Week: “We’ve started 2025 as we mean to go on by cutting prices on thousands of products and there’s much more to come with Rollback.”
Consumers searching for the price match information online are now presented with a message that reads: ‘Our Aldi Lidl Price Match has now finished, but don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of special offers across our entire groceries range.’
The supermarket was the first to price match against both Aldi and Lidl, with over 400 products included in the range. At the time the scheme launched in January 2024, Asda’s chief customer officer David Hills said the initiative sent “a strong message to provide that reassurance to our existing customers and also attract those customers across the grocery sphere to come to us”.
‘This is about the customer’: Asda’s chief customer officer on its price match with Aldi and Lidl
Hills and vice-president of marketing Adam Zavalis told Marketing Week in November that Asda offers value in terms of both “price and quality”, with value also a key message in many of the supermarkets’ recent festive campaigns.
According to Asda’s latest income tracker, posted today (28 January), more than 60% of UK households saw their disposable income fall going into the new year. However, according to the tracker, the average UK household had £251 per week remaining after covering bills and essential expenses in December – an increase of 12.1% compared to the previous year.
Responding to the tracker figures, the supermarket says it is stepping in to help by launching “new value propositions and continuing to invest in maintaining its position as the UK’s lowest-priced traditional supermarket.”
Products on offer as part of the Big Jan Price Drop include Cathedral City Mature Cheddar 300g, dropping from £3.75 to £2.50, and Persil Wonder Wash, falling in price from £7 to £3. Asda is also running its ‘Winter Warmer’ £1 meal deal in its cafés throughout January and February to support the over 60s.
Consumer caution meant Asda experienced a tricky Christmas period and subsequently restructured its top team earlier this month in response. According to Kantar figures, the retailer experienced a 5.8% decrease in sales in the four weeks to 29 December, causing its market share to fall to 12.5%.
