Pressure from Aldi and Lidl: British supermarkets lower their prices
The tough competition from the German discounters Aldi and Lidl are forcing the British supermarkets to seriously lower their prices more than they have ever done in the last seven years. In March prices fell by 1.7% compared to last year. That was the eleventh price fall in a row. The main reason appears to be that despite the economic recovery wages have hardly risen so consumers are increasingly doing their daily shop at Aldi and Lidl.
The major four British chains Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrissons suffered a 3.8% loss in profits in the first three months. Aldi saw sales rise by 35.3% and Lidl's rose by 17.2%. More that one in two British now regularly shop at the discounters.