Sainsbury’s joins the dash to slash prices amid falling sales

The move is the first big decision by the new chief executive Mike Coupe

Sainsbury’s raised the stakes in the supermarket war yesterday by revealing it has cut prices across all of its 12,000 products, following similar moves by its rivals Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

The UK’s third-biggest supermarket has struggled in recent months as shoppers desert the traditional Big Four retailers for the discounters Aldi and Lidl.

The move is the first big decision by the new chief executive Mike Coupe, who will reveal the company’s latest figures next week when sales are expected to be down by up to 3 per cent.

Sainsbury’s did not say by how much its margins would be hit by the cuts or how much it has spent to reduce prices. Morrisons has said it will cost £1bn over three years, while Asda is spending £1bn over four years and Tesco £200m this year.

The supermarket also said it was scrapping its price promise that branded goods would be cheaper than Tesco and will only compare with Asda.

The most recent Kantar Worldpanel data showed its sales fell 1.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 14 September – a faster fall than Morrisons, which shed 1.3 per cent.

However, Tesco is still finding the going toughest of all, as its sales dropped 4.5 per cent over the same period – the biggest fall on record.