Asda claims sevenfold increase in price comparisons

Asda claims its latest round of advertising, which pledges to be 10% cheaper than its main rivals, has prompted a sevenfold increase in users of its price comparison site.

The supermarket giant, which slipped to third place in market share behind Sainsbury's and Tesco in January, has intensified the price war against its competitors – particularly Morrisons and Tesco – this year.

Asda relaunched its Price Guarantee in January, pledging to refund not just the difference if its products were more expensive than rivals, but an additional 10%.

Morrisons hit back by claiming Asda's use of Mysupermarket.com to police the Price Guarantee scheme meant Morrisons prices were not tracked by Asda.

Tesco entered the fray by pledging to accept the vouchers intended for Asda customers.

An Asda spokesman refused to disclose the number of people using the service either before or after the current ad, or the number of Price Guarantee vouchers redeemed in-store.

Asda launches the second of its Price Guarantee ads today, this time focusing on specific products it claims are cheaper.

Shot on location in Wakefield, the ad features Asda's finance colleague Heather Thomas discussing the benefits of the scheme with three friends.

Source : Ed Owen - Marketing Magazine