Waitrose is cutting prices on hundreds of products as it battles to win back middle-class shoppers from Marks & Spencer.
The supermarket chain yesterday began reducing prices on more than 200 ranges (including meat and fresh produce) in a £30m investment.
The announcement came days after rival M&S was tipped to overtake Waitrose.
Industry group Nielsen said last week that M&S ​​was neck-and-neck with Waitrose and each held 3.8 per cent of the market.
In 2021, Waitrose had a market share of 4.2 per cent and M&S only 3.2 per cent.
Resignation: Waitrose’s declining market share is a problem for John Lewis Partnership and its outgoing chair Sharon White
Announcing the price cuts, Waitrose boss James Bailey said they would “make a real difference to our customers’ baskets”.
Prices will be reduced by an average of 8 percent and up to 10 percent in the lines of dairy, fish, meat and poultry, prepared foods and frozen foods.
But retail experts have warned Waitrose faces an uphill battle to stop customers turning away.
Jonathan De Mello, head of JDM Retail Consultancy, said the decision to lower prices was a sign Waitrose was moving “in the right direction” but added that it had “lost its way and failed to adapt to the times.” “.
Even wealthy Britons have had their family budgets hit by rising grocery prices and higher interest rates.
And there has been fierce competition in the grocery sector, with heavyweights Tesco and Sainsbury’s also cutting prices to keep up with growing sales from discounters Aldi and Lidl.
De Mello said: ‘They (Waitrose) have a fairly wealthy aspirational customer base, but even they like to get a good deal. Waitrose has failed to capture the public mood in some ways.
He predicted Waitrose could be overtaken by M&S in 2025, as the latter presses ahead with plans to open more than 100 “bigger and better” food stores by 2028.
“Waitrose has been like a millstone around the neck of owner John Lewis,” he added.
The decline in market share at Waitrose is a problem for the John Lewis Partnership, which also owns the department store chain, and its outgoing chairman, Sharon White.
John Lewis Partnership, founded 95 years ago, has failed in recent years, racking up a £234m loss in 2022. Staff at Waitrose and John Lewis have also threatened to vote to strike amid fears of loss of jobs. jobs.
The association is considering cutting 11,000 jobs after withholding its annual bonus last year.