(13 May) Tesco Ireland chief executive Phil Clarke has defended the retailer's 'Price Promise' initiative, saying it has helped boost price perceptions at the retailer.
"Price Promise has not been disappointing for us at all," Clarke told Retail Intelligence. "Our price perceptions are at the highest level for many a year, and our customers are telling us that they really value it.
"It helps them be more trusting of Tesco, they are less likely to shop around."
Price Promise was launched last October, during the third quarter of the retailer's financial year. In the two quarters following its launch, Tesco posted a year-on-year sales decline of 8.1 per cent in Q3 and 6.4 per cent in Q4.
Clarke also defended the initiative against claims that it gives the impression that it is more expensive than Aldi and Lidl. As Shore Capital's Clive Black recently told RI: “I think a track record of companies telling their customers that they are more expensive than somewhere else isn’t a great one.”
“The idea behind Price Promise was not about saying, ‘We’re more expensive’,” Clarke said. “We have prices that are cheaper than our competitors every day of the week, and we have some prices that are higher. That’s the up and down nature of the market."
The full interview with Phil Clarke can be found in the May 2014 edition of Checkout, published this week.
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
