Supermarket giant Coles has taken its Down Down discounted range a step further, offering up to 34 percent off the original price on a number of popular brands as part of its Deeper Down Down offering.
Coles will also add 50 new products to the Down Down range.
John Durkan, Coles chief operating officer, said “Together with some of Australia’s favourite brands, we are offering our customers Deeper Down Down prices. This means pantry staples that are already on Down Down will have their price reduced even further – with discounts up to 34 percent on brands including Nescafe, Lipton and Sanitarium.”
While the Down Down campaign reduces prices for a minimum of six months, many products have been held at the lower price point for over two years.
Fiftty new items will be added to the existing 1,400 products currently in the Down Down range, including Golden Circle Fruit Juice 2L (was $3.59 now $2.70) and Huggies Bulk Nappies 30-54pk (was $19.98 now $17.00).
The Deeper Down Down campaign commences today (26 February).
While advertising campaigns from both Coles and its key rival, Woolworths, have focused on reduced prices in recent years, research conducted by Roy Morgan in mid-2013 questioned the effectiveness of such campaigns with that less than half (45 percent) of Coles customers believing it offers low prices.
From 2009 to the start of 2012, one in two Coles customers believed that the supermarket had low prices, while rival Woolworths, which offers its down Every Day Value prices, came in lower with just over 40 percent.
Last year’s research however states that the two supermarket giants are almost on par, with Woolworths only two percentage points behind Coles.
Norman Morris, Roy Morgan’s Industry Communications Director, said “Perhaps the effectiveness of the ‘Down Down’ campaign has come to an end, with consumers tuning out the message after years of exposure: the latest March 2013 results reveal there is once again only a small gap between Coles and Woolworths customers, primarily due to a decline shown by Coles rather than any ground made by Woolworths.”
The food industry has criticised Coles’ and Woolworths’ discounting, with the Australian Food and Grocery Council claiming Coles favours its own private label products in its Down Down range. Coles retaliated, arguing that branded products make up 75 percent of all products in-store.
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