Sainsbury’s is one of the pioneers of UK grocery retailing. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Ann, the business was one of the earliest adopters of the self-service shopping model that would go on to revolutionise the way people purchased food. Based in Holborn, London, the business operates around 1,500 stores across its supermarket format and Sainsbury’s Local convenience division. In 2016, Sainsbury’s acquired Argos in a £1.4bn deal designed broaden its reach into general merchandise, ramp up its online and digital expertise, and provide Argos with a greater presence inside the grocer’s larger stores. As well as Argos, Sainsbury’s also owns the Tu clothing label – one of the largest fashion brands in the UK by sales volume – but its core grocery business continues to account for the majority of group sales.
You can’t have your cake and eat it, or so the saying goes. As a grocer, that’s meant that you can be known for low prices or for premium products – but you can’t be great at both.
Online grocery used to be reserved for the big weekly shop, but we’re increasingly picking up our smartphones to buy top-up items. Are the big grocers up to the on-demand challenge?
Earlier this month Sainsbury’s followed competitor Tesco’s lead in launching its very own Aldi price match. Retail Week analyses how the two schemes compare.
In the latest story in our No Limits campaign, which aims to drive social mobility in retail, we explore if it is still possible to progress from stores to the top job
Sainsbury’s has waded into the grocery pricing wars by today launching its own Aldi price match on hundreds of key items.
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