ASDA Price...Pocket the Difference!?

A cat was thrown amongst the pigeons, within the supermarket industry, when Aldi and Lidl came onto the scene. With their ability to offer cheaper ‘own brand’ products, consumers have latched onto these companies in recent tougher times when looking to save money. The renowned ‘big 4’ supermarkets have had to react to Aldi and Lidl’s growth in market share by taking matters into their own hands (Butler & Bowers, 2013). From 2014 to 2019, ASDA’s market share fell from 17.2% to 14.9% (Dyer, 2019), meaning that they are losing a grip on the market and, more importantly, competitors are growing! ASDA did, in fact, attempt a merger with Sainsbury’s but this was blocked by the regulator in 2019 as they felt the company would have gained too much control on the market. This potentially could have resulted in market manipulation and driven out competitors. This potential merger would have given them over 30% of the market share but this was frowned upon by the regulator as it...