Waitrose has committed £100mln to cut prices of its own-branded goods from Wednesday in an attempt to retain customers trading due to the cost-of-living squeeze.
Prices of 300 basic goods will be cut by an average of 14%, Waitrose said.
John Lewis partnership-owned Waitrose suffered a fall in market share over the last year to 4.7% from 5%, while discounters Aldi and Lidl both saw growth as customers' pockets are pressed by higher inflation.
“We understand that getting value for money has never been more important for everyone,” said Waitrose executive director James Bailey.
According to Third Bridge analyst Orwa Mohamad, a shift in customer behaviour over the last year has seen people “cherry-picking” goods from across supermarkets to find the best deals.
This means it’s becoming increasingly important for pricier supermarkets like Waitrose to offer value products and stem falling footfall.
A survey by Which? in January found a basket of goods costing £107.71 in Waitrose was 31% more expensive than Aldi (£82.03), while Tesco and Sainsbury’s were also cheaper at £93.80 and £95.65 respectively.
Shore Capital analyst Clive Black commented: “That's just not a place you want to be when people start to count the pennies, even the more affluent customers.
“Waitrose has been in better shape,” he added, but “it needs to stop the rot and self-improve” to stay competitive, with its price cuts marking a “big move” in doing so.