News and Trends

Source: Retailgazette.co.uk, 29th July 2026 Instacart and Morrisons have rolled out caper smart trolleys to the supermarket’s Preston store, marking Instacart’s first UK retail partnership for its AI-powered smart trolley.  The caper smart trolleys are designed to “bring the convenience and intelligence of online shopping directly into the store,” according to the business.  The trolleys automatically recognise items as they are placed inside them and weigh fresh produce on the spot.  Customers are able to bag items as they shop, “saving time throughout the trip and making checkout quicker and easier”.  The trolley’s touchscreen displays a running basket total to help shoppers stay on budget. It also makes relevant product recommendations and enables customers to scan their Morrisons More Card to instantly access loyalty savings and promotions throughout their shop.  At the end of their shopping trip, customers scan the barcode displayed on the trolley’s screen...

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Morrisons is set to cut over 200 jobs from its retail people team as part of a significant cost-saving initiative, becoming the latest supermarket to announce such measures as it navigates the challenging economic landscape of 2025. The move follows CEO Rami Baitiéh’s comments last month about  the “avalanche of costs” businesses will face  after the government’s October Budget. The impacted roles, which include positions in customer experience, employee engagement, recruitment, and payroll, are part of the supermarket’s restructuring efforts,  The Grocer  reported. A spokesperson for the supermarket told the title: “We have recently carried out a review of our People structure to ensure we are offering our stores and sites a timely and consistent service. “We are therefore proposing to remove the roles of regional people manager, store people manager and case specialist from our structure, meaning colleagues in these roles are being placed at risk of redundancy.” “T...

  British   supermarket group   Morrisons ' underlying sales growth   slowed in its third quarter,   reflecting what its new boss said was a "noticeably softer" market. Former Carrefour France boss  Rami Baitieh  joined Britain's fifth-largest grocer as CEO in November last year, and in January said its performance was not good enough. His turnaround strategy has focused on improving Morrisons' price competitiveness, product availability and its 'More Card' loyalty programme. A scheme to price match discounters Aldi and Lidl on key items was introduced in February. Sales Increase Morrisons said on Thursday its like-for-like sales, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, rose 2.9% in the 13 weeks to July 28, having been up 4.1% in its second quarter. Despite the slowdown, Baitieh said the group made "good headway" in the quarter. "Like-for-like sales remained positive, the switching data improved year-on-year and although the market was noticeably ...

Namnews, 26th January 2024 Morrisons is reported to be in talks to enter the grocery market in Northern Ireland via its joint-branded store concept. According to trade magazine The Grocer, the supermarket group has had discussions with independent retailer Tom McAvoy about becoming a ‘Together with Morrisons’ partner. The concept is already  used by three independent retailers  in Britain. McAvoy owns a 16,000 sq. ft Nisa Extra store in Rathfriland, a market town in County Down. Despite being contracted with Nisa, he started stocking products from Morrisons about three years ago, and the supermarket is now his biggest supplier. McAvoy told The Grocer that he currently organised the logistics with third parties to collect the stock from Morrisons depots and then back to his store. Morrisons is said to be working on a “more sustainable solution”. The products currently only span ambient and frozen due to the complex trading rules with moving fresh goods from Britain to Northern ...

Namnews, 23rd October 2023 On 3rd October, an audience of 1,300 gathered at the Harrogate Convention Centre to hear Morrisons’ leadership team reflect on the past year and set out their vision for the next 12 months. Attendees heard firsthand from key members of the Morrisons leadership team, including James Badger, Morrisons Group Commercial & Manufacturing Director, Rachel Eyre, Morrisons Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, and Joseph Sutton, Morrisons Group Convenience, Online & Wholesale Director. Morrisons to become a ‘Broader, Stronger, More Accessible’ retailer Acknowledging the challenges Morrisons faced a year ago, the leadership team spoke of the plans already in place to improve the retailer’s fortunes and set out their vision for future growth. Summing up Morrisons’ ambition for the future, James Badger told attendees the goal was to make the retailer  “broader, stronger, more accessible for all stakeholders”.  Morrisons identified the following areas a...

  3rd October 2023 Morrisons is beefing up its wholesaling operation as part of moves to bolster the group’s performance after a difficult period since the £7bn takeover by CD&R in 2021. According to The Times, the grocery retailer is building up its sales and marketing teams to support its wholesale ambitions. Earlier this year, Morrisons rebranded its food production division as the Myton Food Group in the hope of distinguishing it from the Morrisons brand. The retailer is said to be looking to yield more business from independent retailers, restaurants and catering firms. Morrisons is the second largest food producer in the UK and owns 19 food manufacturing facilities that supply its supermarkets and McColl’s convenience stores, as well as Amazon and other retail partners. The supermarket’s underperformance in the last couple of years has resulted in a drop in production volumes at its factories. However, sales have started to improve and Morrisons hopes to attract more cust...

 Namnews,  11th September 2023 The supermarket channel faces tough market conditions over the  next five years . The cost of living crisis has seen shoppers turn to the discounters as they seek to stretch household budgets. Although food inflation has started to come down, it is expected to remain above recent historical levels into the first half of 2024. The discount and convenience channels will see their store footprints noticeably expand over the coming years as retailers work towards ambitious store opening targets. This increased competition for shoppers is expected to reduce footfall into supermarkets. Household incomes are expected to return to pre-cost of living levels by the end of 2026. By this time, retailers will have also improved their online logistic capabilities and honed their quick commerce offerings, leading to higher online shopper numbers. Morrisons is combating these challenges by collaborating with online partners such as Amazon and Ocado. Priorit...

 Namnews,  4th September 2023 Morrisons is cutting the price of more than 170 products this week, marking its eighth round of reductions this year as it battles to win back shoppers. The supermarket has also launched ‘More Month’, where members of its loyalty scheme will be able to take advantage of more exclusive offers than ever before, with an average discount of over 30%. Meanwhile, extra ‘More Points’ will be available across a range of branded items for the first time, as well as on a wider selection of the grocer’s own-label lines. Customers who save 5,000 points earn a ‘Morrisons Fiver’, which can be redeemed on a future shop. Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer at Morrisons, said: “Customers tell us that September is an opportunity to ‘reset’ and try new routines after the expensive summer months. “We also know that saving for Christmas is already on their minds and so we have launched ‘More Month’ to help”. NAM Implications: There have to be limits to M...

 Namnews,  21st April 2023 Morrisons continues to expand the reach of its convenience store format after independent retailer Amacor agreed to adopt the Daily fascia for three of its stores. Amacor opened its first Morrisons Daily in Newton Le Willows, Merseyside, yesterday with further stores set to open in Bradford and Blackpool next month. They are all switching from Nisa, but Amacor’s other 14 sites will remain with the symbol group. The fresh food-orientated convenience stores offer a tailored mix of Morrisons own-label products alongside branded lines. As well as new ranges, the stores are benefitting from a complete redesign internally and externally, incorporating Morrisons operational planograms and branding. Paul Dobson, Sales Director – franchise & wholesale supply at Morrisons, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Amacor and opening the first Morrisons Daily with them. The team has a wealth of retail expertise and we’ve combined that with our operationa...

 Namnews,  17th April 2023 Efforts by Morrisons to improve its price competitiveness appear to be paying off, with it delivering the cheapest basket of everyday grocery items amongst the traditional supermarkets for the first time since May last year. The weekly price comparison of 33 products by trade magazine The Grocer found that Morrisons came out the cheapest with a total cost of £65.58 thanks to a large number of promotions. The chain offered the lowest price for 15 products and was exclusively cheapest for nine. It had deals on 16 items, with nine of these straight discounts. Morrisons returned to underlying sales growth in its last quarter after benefitting from moves to improve its price competitiveness following a dismal 2022 when it struggled to compete amid soaring cost inflation. The Grocer survey ranked Asda in second place, with its basket of goods costing £68.38. Sainsbury’s was third on £68.79, followed by Tesco (£71.65) and Waitrose (£80.48). The survey, cond...

Namnews, 20th February 2023 Morrisons is cutting the price of its own-label range again after a series of reductions last month as it battles to win back shoppers from its rivals and halt the decline in its market share. After rolling out over 1,000 cuts in January, the supermarket said today it was investing £25m in lowering the prices on a further 64 items, including fresh produce such as potatoes and carrots, and essentials such as rice and coffee. Prices are being reduced by almost a fifth on average. David Potts, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said: “We are just seven weeks into 2023 and already this is our fifth significant price activity of the year. These latest price cuts follow hard on the heels of two notable in store price cuts involving well over 1,000 products, and two strong fuel promotions, demonstrating our determination and commitment to make a positive difference to our customers’ pockets.” The move marks the latest escalation of the price war between supermarkets as ...

Morrisons has updated its investors on full year trading for the 52 weeks ending 30 October 2022, noting that “ with continued high food inflation, rising interest rates, an ongoing cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine set to enter its second year, there is a continuing sense of uncertainty in consumer sentiment .” Group revenue for the year was up 2.2% to £18.4 bn, from £18.0 bn last year, while Group like-for-like (LFL) sales, excluding fuel, were down 4.2%. However, Morrisons noted its LFL's were “ on a steadily improving trend over the last two quarters .” It said the sales momentum had continued into the new financial year, with sales in the three weeks before Christmas up 2.5% on last year. Adjusted EBITDA was £828m, at the top end of the guidance given at Q3. Looking ahead… During 2022/23, Morrisons expects to be impacted by continued cost and other inflationary headwinds, but is confident that improved trading momentum and its various cost saving programmes will mor...

Namnews, 18th November 2022 Having recently already lost the fourth spot in the UK’s largest grocery retailer rankings to Aldi, Morrisons could soon be leapfrogged by Lidl. After posting  solid year-end results yesterday  and revealing that cash-strapped shoppers were flocking to its stores, Lidl GB’s Chief Executive stated that the discounter had the “momentum” to overtake the struggling Big Four supermarket. Asked if he expects to surpass Morrisons in the near future, Ryan McDonnell told the Daily Mail: “I think so, yeah.” He added: “We have a very healthy pipeline for our expansion. I am not calculating at what point I am going to overtake, but certainly we have a lot of potential to keep taking market share and enjoy more switching gains.” Updating on its current trading yesterday, Lidl cited industry data from Kantar showing shoppers last month switched £58m of spending from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons to the discounter. This followed Lidl attracting over 770,0...

  Namnews, 24th November 2022 Leading brioche brand St Pierre has secured additional shelf space with Morrisons in time for the festive season. The grocery retailer is rolling out St Pierre’s Brioche Bagels, Brioche Baguettes and Sliced Brioche Loaf to its stores nationwide. The brand stated that it is ideally placed to drive festive sales as shoppers look for ways to upgrade their at-home menus this Christmas. Jen Danby, marketing director at St Pierre Groupe, commented: “Morrisons has been really supportive of the St Pierre brand, understanding the points of difference that our products bring to the fixture. Whilst the launch of these three new products is timed perfectly for Christmas sales, all three will join our other branded items on shelf as a permanent, year-round listing, demonstrating the versatility of St Pierre across all meal occasions at any time of the year. “Consumers are routinely trading up on staples now – especially in bakery where 24% of the value in rolls is ...

  Mega deals have been off the table since Sainsbury was blocked from buying Asda In 2019, the CMA blocked the proposed takeover of Asda by J Sainsbury, saying the deal would lead to higher prices and less choice © AFP/Getty Images Jonathan Eley , Financial Times Print this page Keynes is regularly credited with saying that when the facts changed, so did his opinion. A more pertinent question in retail is whether facts have changed enough to alter the regulator’s view on mergers. In 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority blocked the proposed takeover of Asda by J Sainsbury, saying the deal would lead to higher prices and less choice. In doing so, it in effect ruled out any combination of the so-called “big four” — Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Wm Morrison — that had dominated food  retail  for 15 years. Three years on, rampant cost inflation is  squeezing grocers’ profit margins , making consolidation potentially attractive. And two supermarket chains are now owned...

 Namnews,  29th September 2022 Morrisons has reported a halving of third-quarter profits as it lost sales to the discounters and faced “unprecedented inflationary pressures” in its food manufacturing operations. The retailer, which was recently overtaken by Aldi as the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain by market share, saw its EBITDA fall from £356m to £177m over the 13-week period to 31 July. Morrisons noted that “as a foodmaker, we feel the effects of inflation earlier than other retailers”. The group produces around half of its fresh food in-house, a much higher figure than other supermarkets. Morrisons also stressed that some of the decline was due to “temporary and transitional factors” such as alterations to the group’s loyalty scheme. A change in its financial year-end from January to October following its takeover by CD&R last year also meant that profitable income from supplier advertising and promotions now falls in the fourth quarter, not the third. Excludin...