Tesco Valentine's deal

M & S Valentines deal

Tesco, Waitrose, and Aldi offer Valentine's Day meal deals on a budget like Toad in the Hole

This year retailers are spreading the love by offering consumers Valentine's Day on a budget. The price of roses, chocolate and own-brand Prosecco are being slashed faster than teenagers in a horror movie.

At Sainsbury's, shoppers can snap up a bottle of Codorniu Cava and Thorntons chocolate for £10, almost half their individual retail price.

Tesco has chosen Valentine's Day as the ideal moment to launch a cheaper version of Marks & Spencer's highly successful ‘Eat in for £10' offer.

It is offering a main, side dish, dessert and bottle of wine for two from the Tesco Finest range for nine pounds. Toad in the Hole and breaded cod fishcakes are two of the less-than-romantic dishes included in the deal.

We may not be known as the world's most romantic nation, but this may not be a case of ‘every little helps'.

Waitrose is also running Valentine's meal deals with money off selected champagnes and sparkling wines, a three-course meal for two for £10 and a £5 brunch. There is of course a risk that those that spent a tenner on a microwave meal for Valentine's Day won't reach the brunch stage.
Aldi, the budget supermarket, has cleverly avoided putting a price on romance and instead is helping its customers whip up culinary masterpieces this Valentine's Day with an online cook-along with TV chef Phil Vickery.

Wetherspoons has ditched the Valentine's curry club offer it ran last year, possibly having realised that spicy curry and a warm pint tend not to have an aphrodisiac effect. Instead it is offering couples two steaks and a bottle of wine for £14.99, which will hopefully make the course of true love run a bit more smoothly.

And for those that want to impress their loved one with that Bridget Jones favourite, ‘the mini-break', Ryanair, the no-frills airline that takes pride in being cheap, is promoting travel vouchers with personalised messages as Valentine's day gifts.

Of course, Valentine's Day cynics and people that don't want to stump up a tenner should remember that writing a poem is free: ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, I haven't brought you anything, but I still love you'.

Value supermarkets continue to shrink Tesco's market share

Tesco is still losing market share as consumers continue to favour the value and discount supermarkets to help them through the credit crunch.

Tesco had a 0.5 share point drop to 30.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to January 25, according to the latest TNS Worldpanel grocery market share figures.

Aldi lead the charge for market share, up 0.4 share points after recording year-on-year growth of 24.7 per cent as its discounted ranges continue to find favour amongst credit crunch shoppers.
The grocery market overall continued to grow on last year, up 6.4 per cent for the period.

Asda and Morrisons both lifted their share as they grew well ahead over the market as a whole. Asda grew 8.1 per cent and Morrisons 9.7 per cent respectively, the figures showed.

Waitrose has struggled to achieve growth in current market conditions with flat year-on-year sales resulting in a share decline from 3.9 per cent a year ago to 3.7 per cent.

The figures also showed that grocery price inflation had effectively stalled for the 12-week period, at 8.4 per cent, after the decline of the pound had an adverse effect on produce and imported food prices.

Amazon poised to launch UK online grocery range

Amazon UK is set to shake up the grocery e-tail market with the launch of an online food offer.

Amazon is expected to emulate its US grocery offer, comprising more than 45,000 non-perishable items, in this country. A launch date has yet to be decided but industry sources said it is likely to be this year.

In the US, Amazon offers shoppers savings by enabling them to buy in bulk. The e-tailer also offers free delivery to prime customers and tracks routine purchases on a shopping list feature on its site.
Amazon is also testing a perishable food offer, AmazonFresh, in the Seattle area in the US's Northwest and is asking customers to vote on whether the offer should be extended to more locations.

Sources said that they do not expect the fresh food range to be introduced in the UK soon, although this country's size would make it logistically easier to provide a wider fresh food offer.
Nielsen Online analyst Alex Burmaster believed that an Amazon food launch in the UK would be good for competition. "Potentially supermarkets should be nervous as the Amazon name is so well known and it is one of the original, old school online brands," he said.

But Amazon's plans may also face a few obstacles.

Burmaster added: "Its biggest challenge could be to change the customer mindset on a site renowned for selling books and DVDs. It is not a natural progression, but it has been adding to its portfolio over the past few years and becoming more of a one stop shop for customers."

An Amazon spokesman said that he could not comment on future plans. In October the e-tail giant waded into the fast growing online fashion market with a range of more than 20,000 lines from retailers and brands including La Senza, La Redoute and Puma.

As Retail Week went to press Amazon was poised to reveal sales results for the fourth quarter of last year.

Waitrose: Brits unaware of European pork farming standards

Waitrose has revealed the majority of Brits are in the dark when it comes to European Union pig farming standards.The retailer said 70% of UK consumers are unaware of the conditions imported pigs are reared in, and almost 60% will now stop eating foreign pork.

An additional 85% of respondents to the poll - conducted by YouGov for Waitrose - said they want to see clearer labels on pork products so they can be sure of the origins of the meat.

Currently, retailers can label meat imported from abroad as British if it has been processed in the UK.The statistics come after TNS said this week free-range chicken sales have remained robust despite the recession.

Mark Price, Waitrose managing director, said: "There is still a real lack of awareness about the volume of imported pork and the fact that most of these pigs have been reared in intensive farming conditions. "Our research proves that when given clear information British people are willing to make buying decisions based on welfare standards. "UK pork may cost a little more but you can enjoy your bacon roll with a clear conscience and rest assured that you are also supporting the British pig industry."

The British Pig Executive has said three-quarters of the pigs imported for consumption are reared in conditions that would be illegal in Britain.Pigs reared in dark areas and narrow metal cages suffer from muscle weakness, digestive problems and cardiovascular problems, Waitrose said.

Supermarkets renew focus on vouchers

LONDON - Vouchers and money-off coupons are set to be the next big battleground for the UK's major supermarkets, according to industry experts.

All the big multiples increased their year-on-year adspend in the run-up to last Christmas, except Morrisons, which cut its spend by more than 29%.

However, the latter posted the greatest increase in market share, due, in part, to money-off voucher promotions. Retail analysts believe that one promotion offering customers a £20-off voucher when they spent more than £40 in three consecutive weeks was instrumental in generating its record Christmas sales.

According to insiders, Waitrose is also due to put coupons at the heart of its 2009 marketing strategy following a successful discount voucher promotion before Christmas. It is already offering money-off vouchers to customers who have recently reduced their regular spend at Waitrose.'

Coupons are used more during a recession. Retailers and brands see them as a cheap tactical solution to change consumer behaviour but not cause long-term brand damage,' said an Institute of Sales Promotion spokesman.

Voucher websites are the fastest-growing area of internet retail. Hitwise's UK research director, Robin Goad, said that one in every 200 visits to an online retail site now comes from a voucher site. 'Tesco voucher codes' was the top online search for voucher codes last month.