Launching small – and cute – prices
Delhaize
Overview
Price is a complex challenge for Delhaize. Falling into the discounter trap and randomly lowering prices might be a tempting tactic for Delhaize. But it’s the last thing the premium brand should do. Instead, we stayed true to the power of the brand and leveraged Delhaize’s brand equity in a fresh way to continue its brand promise to stay on the side of life.
The Challenge
2022 was a year of brutal inflation, reaching a staggering record of 10,3%. Statbel noted that the inflation on groceries has never been as high as it was in 2022. It’s no surprise that his has a major impact on people’s purchasing power and thus on all Belgian supermarkets. The total retail market declined while there was a natural shift to the hard discounters, with Aldi as the big winner. Delhaize was hit with a twofold blow: there was a decrease in store visits and a decrease of the average ticket value. Delhaize needed to help defend Belgian’s purchase power during this cost-of-living crisis to get the brand back in people’s hearts, minds and wallets.
The Solution
Knowing a promotion platform would devalue its brand equity, Delhaize decided to integrate affordability into the heart of the brand with the launch of a branded everyday-low-prices platform: the Little Lions. The Little Lions are distinctive and ownable at the same time, and guide Delhaize customers to the best priced Delhaize products. This disruptive approach effectively impacted Delhaize’s price perception, a vulnerability which it had been struggling with for year.
