Happy Groceries' Christmas Battle

          Tesco, ASDA and Co launch their annual war of prices attracting discount-hunters for the festive products.

Rival groceries informed their customers of money-saving Christmas offers on the same day with a little difference: ASDA unveils £150m while Tesco promises £250m axing off. Chief financial officer at Asda, stated that “This Christmas will be the most aggressive in pricing for a decade.” This was quoted by the all the 4 newspapers I looked through, as well as some other facts:

• Like-for-like sales grew by 5.6 per cent, excluding fuel and VAT, in the three months to September 30, down from 7.2 per cent in the second quarter.
• The company increased its market share from 16.9 to 17.3 per cent, stretching its lead over J Sainsbury.
• Asda is the only supermarket if the big 4 that is not offering an enhanced loyalty scheme in the coming Christmas.

But why did I stop over this piece of news? Thanks to Daily Mail again. It told me everything in few words Asda declares festive price war on Tesco. The Telegraph was more distant and decided not to point out the main character naming its article just Supermarkets start Christmas price war. Times Online seemed to forget that the war supposes several participants, that's why it focuses on Asda signals supermarket war with £150m price cuts. But compared to Independent's dry title Asda sales growth hit by fallin food prices quarter others seem really tasty. 


However, let's take  a closer look. The Daily Mail is definitely writing a war-novel. The gloves are off in the battle, the crucial numbers are unveiled, the rival is Leeds-based and it is filled with dignity that the one can't buy customers with a plastic card. Guess, you got the clew. 


But The Telegraph makes you shrink with cold beginning with the frozen meat and party food. So follow carefully who is keen to take advantage of the demise (are all papers are crazy on historical novels?), why analysts consider the retailers nervous and just get your pen ready to write down who offers the best rate for 75 sausages and where to rush for your new Wii set.


Times Online left all literary expressions behind, providing the full economic overview of supermarkets' Christmas activities. It states facts going more in economic details than pricing policies. The one can learn the state of affairs in the UK grocery market, learn about the main players and read the CEO's opinions about the recovery paces.

The Independent is catching up combining the dry financial figures, analysts' comments and "the grocers do battle" question. However, the paper is not that independent, because from the first paragraph it's trying to find who to blame for a slowdown. The article stresses out that families watching X Factor on Saturday nights are the main "accelerators" in sales volume. 


Summing it up, I would like to say that all this war prices are extremely interesting to watch. I never saw such quick reactions in Russia. You can walk from Tesco to Sainsbury and drive to Asda picking up particular goods in each shop, because you know where the best value is at the moment. It's a pity I won't be in the UK during the hottest days shortly before Christmas, but I will definitely check the latest war-novel chapter at Daily Mail.