Quality just as important as price perception

The latest data from TNS shows the discounters recording ever-higher sales as consumers continue to switch from the big four to the more value-focused merchants. Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and Farmfoods have all taken sales away from the main supermarkets, which only leaves Netto missing out on the party.

By Glynn Davis

The reasoning behind this is supposedly because Netto does not have a reputation as being both a purveyor of quality and of rock-bottom prices. Whereas the latter is not in doubt, there are still reservations with consumers about the former. In contrast, there is a general view from analysts that Aldi and Lidl have built up increasingly strong reputations for quality - to compliment their competitive price positioning.

If you can believe the TNS figures (and Netto continues to question them) then they suggest that quality is just as important as price and that consumers nowadays want both components in place before they will make a purchase. This somewhat goes against recent research from Netto that found 59 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that the price of a product is now a more important consideration than quality.

Judging by the TNS figures and the analyst views this is not the case - both are equally important - but then when can you believe what shoppers tell you. (That is, however, another story).

Netto has made great strides with its product quality over recent years and continues to state that consumers do not have to sacrifice quality for price when shopping at its supermarkets.

This suggests it has unfortunately come up against the perennial issue of perception that all the supermarkets have to continually work hard on because in this world perception is far more important than the reality.

glynnd@theretailbulletin.com