Time to give BOGOF the brush?
Print15 February 2016
In an effort to help customers cut down on food waste and “buy what they need, when they need it”, Sainsbury’s is planning to phase out multi-buy promotions, such as buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) deals, by August 2016.
Since March 2015, Sainsbury’s has removed more than 50% of multi-buy promotions from its grocery business in favour of lower regular prices.
Sainsbury’s food commercial director, Paul Mills-Hicks said the decision fitted the change in customer shopping habits of recent years, whereby “people [are] shopping more frequently – often seeking to buy what they need at that moment in time”.
Hicks says consumers have responded well to the change, noting: “Since we started simplifying our pricing approach we’ve seen a much greater variety of products in our customers’ baskets, signalling that they like the flexibility to make their own choices.”
In fact, recent YouGov research from the UK shows 81% of families of four believe they throw away less than £30 worth of food a month, when they waste nearly double that at £58.30 a month, on average.
Commenting on the announcement by Sainsbury’s, Connor Campbell, a senior market analyst at www.spreadex.com said: “In a move that seems counter-intuitive given the brutally contested (and ongoing) supermarket price war, Sainsbury’s has revealed it is phasing out its multi-buy promotions. It appears that, in order to secure customers who fear they are over-spending due to the allure of such offers (the most famous being BOGOF), Sainsbury’s is going to present a simpler landscape for shoppers to navigate, something that may help the orange supermarket distinguish itself from its larger (i.e. Tesco) or cheaper (i.e the German duo of Aldi and Lidl) rivals.”
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