Dive Brief:
- Stop & Shop is reducing regular prices on thousands of items across its 88 stores in eastern Massachusetts, the grocer announced Wednesday.
- The Ahold Delhaize-owned banner said the price cuts will span nearly every department and apply to both national brand and private label products.
- With this latest rollout, Stop & Shop is finalizing lower everyday prices across all of its stores in Massachusetts.
Dive Insight:
The price reductions in the grocer’s home state are part of a multi-year strategy to strengthen its image through lower prices, store remodels and improved in-store experiences for customers, Stop & Shop said.
The rollout of the price cuts starts Friday and will be completed by the end of the month, according to the announcement. The stores will have yellow tags that spotlight new prices compared with the old ones. Examples of price reductions include 30 cents off a pound of private label pasta, 40 cents off 48-oz. cartons of private label ice cream and 70 cents off 32-oz. containers of College Inn chicken broth.
“[B]ringing meaningful savings to millions of customers right in our backyard is an important milestone in our broader strategy,” Stop & Shop President Roger Wheeler said in a statement. “We know that value matters now more than ever, and this price investment — which is the largest one we’ve executed to date — is just one example of the work we’re focused on to deliver a great experience for our customers in terms of value, high-quality products, and service in our stores.”
To improve the customer experience at its Massachusetts stores, Stop & Shop said it has removed paper bag fees — except where locally mandated — and previously lowered prices on key bakery items like muffins and sheet cakes. Over the last year, the grocer has remodeled several Massachusetts stores, including locations in Natick, Framingham, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Acton.
The Wednesday announcement adds to Stop & Shop’s growing list of recent efforts to showcase value to consumers in a price-sensitive environment.
Stop & Shop said it is working to make deals more accessible to customers by reworking its weekly ad to ensure that the offers featured on its cover don’t require a digital coupon. The grocer also noted that it has been giving away a free, full-sized product every month to customers who check in at the kiosks the grocer installed chainwide to bolster its GO Rewards program.
Earlier this summer, Stop & Shop unveiled a new brand campaign that underscores value and reaffirms customer trust.
Last fall, Stop & Shop announced it had reduced regular prices on thousands of private label and national brand products in all of its stores in Rhode Island. Around the same time, Stop & Shop faced pressure from four Democratic lawmakers who pressed the grocer for more transparency about pricing discrepancies.
For the last year, Ahold Delhaize has focused on making changes to improve Stop & Shop’s financial performance, including closing 32 underperforming stores.
During an earnings call earlier this month, Ahold Delhaize CEO and President Frans Muller said the company is “encouraged by customers’ response to the initiatives we have implemented thus far.”
Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, Stop & Shop runs more than 350 stores throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.
