Sainsbury's is to stop running its Brand Match scheme, which gives money back when branded goods are cheaper at rival Asda.
The promotion, which has been running since 2011, will end in three weeks' time, and Sainsbury's says it will use the money saved to cut prices on basic items it sells.
In an age where shoppers are buying less per store visit, Brand Match's 10-item qualification process might well have become outdated.
Earlier this year, Sainsbury's announced that it would stop multi-buy deals, saying that customers found that these caused 'logistical challenges at home in terms of storage and waste'.
Morrisons last year stopped the price-matching element of its loyalty card scheme, and Asda has made changes to its scheme.
Of Sainsbury's latest move, Martin Lane, of financial comparison website www.money.co.uk, said:“Sainsbury’s has listened to their customers and scrapped their brand match in favour of permanently lower prices a move that really highlights the state of the supermarket wars.
'Cheap goods are winning over customer services or customer personalisation every time. Stores like Aldi and Lidl have helped to change the buying habits of the nation and full price phobic shoppers simply are not prepared to part with lots of cash at the supermarket tills. It’s almost as if it’s become a game with hungry consumers to see who can produce the most amount of goods for the least price.
“With consumer habits shifting from doing a big shop to lots of smaller shops, Sainsbury’s are moving with the times in a bid to stay ahead of the curve. A bold and brave move, great news for consumers generally but bad news for loyal Sainsbury's shoppers who buy lots of branded items.”
