Morrisons’ points system takes on the discounters

The retailer, which has been hit hard by the rise of the discounters, will give customers using its ‘Match & More’ scheme points on products if they can be found cheaper at another of the big four or the discounters.

If a comparable grocery shop is cheaper at Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury or Asda, consumers will receive the difference back in points, it said.

‘Lowering prices’​

“In May, we announced that we were lowering our prices permanently,” ​said Dalton Philips, chief executive of Morrisons.

“Now we’re launching Match & More, the most comprehensive price match and points scheme in the UK.” ​

Comparable prices would be collected by the independent research group Profitero and would cover branded and own-label products, as well as items on promotion elsewhere, said Dalton.

As an example of how the scheme would work, he said: “If Lidl is the cheapest and is 60p cheaper than Morrisons, then 600 points are added to your Match & More account.” ​

Customers would then be able to redeem their points in multiples of £5 (or 5,000 points) and use them in store.

‘Learned from others’​

“We have learned from other price match programmes so our customers will not collect lots of small vouchers or have to redeem them through a website when they get home from their shop,” ​Dalton added.

Last month, the chain revealed half-year profits down by more than 30%​, as a result of sharper competition from the discounters.

Pre-tax profits for the six months to August 3 slumped to £239M, compared to £344M for the same period the previous year.

Commenting on the company’s interim results, analysts said Morrisons’ business strategy was balanced on a knife-edge​.