Quote:
Originally Posted by oliver1948uk
I don't think decisions have yet been made about renaming stores.
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I am pretty confident it will transition to Sainsburys and with Walmarts buying power you will see a completely new and reinvented pricing strategy from Sainsburys which will make them cheaper than Tesco on branded products. Own brand may be a bit more expensive because Sainsburys tend to go towards better quality whereas Asda and Tesco prioritise price over quality so they can say they are the cheapest. You will definitely find though that with the volume and turn over of stock Asda get through on branded products, regardless of category, that Sainsbury's will be the cheapest going forward.
Initially there will be a lag phase when Asda stores close. A large portion of the customer base will shift to Tesco believing they are the next cheapest retailer so there won't be an immediate direct transfer of sales to Sainsburys. Over time though once the transition is established, the supply chain in place and marketing campaign on price which will be advertised to death for months, Sainsburys will pull all the Asda customers back. You would think it will take time to do but you would be amazed how fast Walmart works and what they can get done in lightning speed. They won't wait and allow for any sort of period of change in the stores (e.g. taking 6 months to find there feet and work things out) where customers are unsure what is happening and give them a reason to go to Tescos. When it happens it will happen big time and Sainsburys will undergo a massive transformation so that customers know that as Asda closes, they can get the same products at the same cheap prices at Sainsburys and there is no need to shop anywhere else. They will do everything they can to ensure as fewer customers switch to Tesco as possible.