Sainsbury's drops Brand Match pricing scheme

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's is abandoning its Brand Match pricing strategy in favour of lowering regular prices on key products.

The company said it found that cheaper prices across the board mattered to more customers than strategies such as Brand Match, which it launched five years ago.

It reassured shoppers that all the money it saved would be "wholly reinvested" in lowering the cost of an everyday basics such as chicken, bread, cheese and fresh produce.

The last Brand Match coupons will be issued on April 26.

The scheme, introduced in 2011, gave shoppers money-off vouchers for their next shop if they could have bought branded goods cheaper at Asda.

The move comes as consumers have shifted away from the weekly shop, meaning that fewer baskets contain the 10 items needed to qualify for the scheme.

Sainsbury's, currently the best performer of the 'Big Four' grocers, recorded a 1.2% sales growth in the most recent quarterly figures from Kantar Worldpanel, despite its decision in February to end multi-buy and buy-one-get-one-free promotions.

The Big Four, including Tesco, Asda and Morrisons, have been hit by a price war as the success of German discounters Aldi and Lidl has prompted them to slash prices and invest in improving service.