How retailers are supporting customers during cost of living crisis

Aldi

• Price Cuts: Reduced price of own-brand staples like bread, milk and butter.
• Staff Pay Increase: Committed to paying all store staff £11.40 per hour, rising to £12.30 nationally, and £13.15 within the M25. Warehouse selectors now receive a minimum starting salary of £13.18 per hour.
• Meal Donation: Partnered with Neighbourly and donated 700,000 meals to charities, food banks and community groups during the school summer holidays.
• Other Donations: Donated 80,000 items from Mamia baby range to charities and food banks that help new parents/carers on low incomes.

Amazon

• Discounted Products: Cutting prices across various food products including fruit, vegetables, meat and fish every week.
• Staff Pay Increase: From April, minimum starting wage will rise by 50p to £11 and £12 an hour, depending on location.

Asda

• Fuel Price Cut: Cut the price of unleaded by 5ppl and diesel by 3ppl.
• Loyalty Scheme: Rolled out new loyalty programme 'Asda Rewards'. Customers earn pounds, building up a Cashpot to spend in-store or online.
• Financial Advice: Launched an 'Essential Living Hub' - an online money-saving advice site to help parents struggling with the cost-of-living. Includes tips on energy saving, buying and cooking smarter and ideas for free family days out.
• New Value Range: Continued rollout of new 'Just Essentials' range, with 267 lines available.
• Rollbacks: Implementing thousands of Rollback price reductions in store and online each week, including new 20p produce range.
• Discounted Meals: Launched 'Kids Eat for £1' offer in Asda Cafés. Running scheme until March 2023, seven days a week, with no minimum adult spend required. Introduced new "winter warmer" initiative offering those 60 soup, a roll and unlimited tea and coffee for £1 in any cafe until March 2023. 10% discount for emergency workers to end of March 2023 with Blue Light Card
• Charity Donation: Worked with children's poverty charity Buttle UK to donate £125k worth of gift cards. ​The donation will enable Buttle to provide the UK's most vulnerable children with school uniform and essentials.​
• Community Investment: Investing in local communities via Community Champions and Green Token Giving schemes. As part of this the Asda Foundation recently invested £750k in 60 local community groups and charities across the UK, with the aim of transforming community spaces and places after customers said the cost-of-living crisis has impacted their social and community interaction. Further grants are in development.
• Staff Pay Increase: Increased the hourly rate of pay to £10.10 per hour from July.
• Salaried Staff Pay Increase: Given 2.5% pay increase to the lowest three pay bands for salaried colleagues across retail, depots, and home offices.
• Staff Discount Extension: Removed the 12-week qualifying period for Colleague Discount in stores and online, new staff can save 10% on their shopping from their first day of employment.
• 10% Blue Light Discount: Workers in the NHS, Emergency Services, Social Services, Social care sector and armed forces can access 10% discount in all Asda's stores across the UK when they present their Blue Light Card. Food and soft drinks, George clothing and homeware, toys, gifts and optical are all included.
• Flu jab: Halved the price of flu jab to £4.98 in Winter 2023.

Boots

• New Value Range: Launched new Everyday range of essential products at the lowest prices. The lines - all priced at £1.50 or less with prices starting from 50p - include 60 everyday items across toiletries, skincare, dental, haircare and period products.
• Price Freeze: Announced a price freeze on 1,500 own brand products to ensure they remain affordable.
• Loyalty Scheme: Boots Advantage Card holders can access exclusive discounts and offers on over 900 products each month. With an average saving of £2.65 per product, customers have already saved £12.5m since the scheme launched in 2022.
• Discounting Products: The Boots own brand range is now made up of over 9,000 lines across health, beauty and baby and has over 1,000 products priced at £2 or less. Boots also runs over 1,300 deals or promotions at any one time across its full range, including the £10 Tuesday offer.
• Charity Partnership: Boots recently partnered with The Hygiene Bank to launch a back to school campaign to donate basic hygiene products to children and schools. Boots is donating 50,000 products.

Co-op

• Staff Pay Increase: Increased pay for all store-based employees, hourly rates went up between 4.2% and 5.3%.
  
• Credit Unions: Co-op employees can become members of the two credit unions associated with the Co-op - Keep Credit Union and the Co-op Credit Union. Both are free to join and can give employees a better deal on saving or borrowing money. Regular payments are made into savings and loan repayments come straight out of pay.
• Rental Deposit Scheme: Employees can apply for an interest-free rent deposit loan to help with the cost of renting a home. An application can be made as soon as a tenancy agreement has been received up to a maximum of 80% of earnings over a 4-week period. Repayments are taken direct from salary over the next 10 paydays after the loan is received.
• Access To Debt Advice: Co-op has partnered with StepChange to make sure employees can get the best possible help with debt.
• Regular Communications And Advice: A monthly 'Wellbeing Wednesday' email is sent to all colleagues with help and support on every aspect of health and wellbeing, including financial wellbeing.
• Charity Partnerships: Partnered with Microsoft to launch Caboodle, a new tech platform designed to stop food waste. Caboodle connects retailers, cafes and restaurants to community groups and volunteers to redistribute surplus food to the households most in need.

Costa Coffee

• Staff Pay Increase: Hourly pay to rise between 6.1% and 7.3%, with 75% of team members now set to earn £10.90 per hour.

Currys

• Staff Pay Increase: Increased staff pay four times in the last 18 months. Staff paid minimum £10.50 per hour; London staff paid minimum £11.50 an hour.
• Price Locks: Locked prices of most popular products to 2021 levels.
• Exchange Programme: Reintroduced 'Cash for Trash' which allows customers to recycle old, broken or unused technology in exchange for vouchers, even if it has no value at all.
• Loan Scheme: Launched 12-month pay delay for purchases above £99 .

Decathlon

• Rental Service: Launched a rental service to make big ticket items cheaper. Customers can rent paddleboards, kayaks and e-bikes from £20 per day.

Dreams

• Staff Pay Rise: Brought forward the annual April pay rise, effective from 1st December 2022, so colleagues feel the benefit over the winter.
• Free Medical Care: Offer a free, out of hours GP service and medical appointments, to give greater flexibility and help protect colleague's holiday allowance.
• Support Groups: Created a 'Support each other' chat group on their internal comms platform to connect colleagues with each other, post money saving hints, tips and offers, meal hacks and wellbeing ideas.
• Discounts: Provide access to money off high street food retailers to help with day-to-day essential living costs through their internal myBenefits platform.
• Financial Support: Offer free advice and resources on financial planning, debt management, mental health and wellbeing support through their partnership with the Retail Trust.

• Free Children's Meals: Throughout the summer holidays, for every £4 spent, children received a free mini main course, two snacks and a drink.
• Staff Pay Increase: Staff received a median 7% pay increase in 2022 and Dunelm took a tiered approach that gave a higher percentage pay increase to those lowest paid in the organisation.
• Community Group Support: Provide free use of Pausa Cafes between 17:30 and 19:30 for clubs or community groups.
• Financial Wellbeing & Support Programme: Colleagues have access to an information hub which contains financial wellbeing and support that is accessible in one place, with a monthly video published with further tips and information.
• Wellbeing Support: Every colleague has a 1-2-1 with their line manager, which is focused on wellbeing.
• Salary Advance For Staff: Staff able to access up to 50% of their monthly pay a month in advance.
• Colleague Hardship Fund: Increased investment in their Colleague Hardship fund by 150% compared to previous financial year.
  

Halfords

• Discounts: Reducing prices across all its motoring categories and expanding its 'Never Be Beaten on Price' promise to more motoring products.
• MOT Discount: Offering motorists a saving of up to 25% on MOTs versus its competitors at its 600 autocentres.
  
  

Holland and Barrett

• Staff Pay Increase: Staff pay increase from £10.05 to £11 an hour. Distribution employee pay increased to £11.46 an hour.
• Staff Discounts: Staff are offered 25% discount and free online delivery.

Iceland

• Free Delivery On Smaller Shops: Customers only need to spend £35 online, compared with £40 previously, to get free next-day delivery. Customers using Iceland's in-store home delivery service can get free delivery on a £20 spend, rather than £25.
  
• Staff Discount Extended: Staff get 15% off instead of 10% off their shops.
• Discount for Vulnerable Groups: 10% discount offered to customers over 60 every Tuesday (no minimum spend).
• Charity Partnerships: Partnered with Rothesay Foundation offering 40,000 £30 food vouchers to pensioners.
  
• Loan Scheme: Offering interest-free loans of up to £100 with ethical lender Fair for You. To be repaid in £10-per-week instalments.
• Energy Saving Guidance: Launched "Shop Smart, Cook Savvy" partnership with energy company Utilita to help families better understand economical cooking. Also added energy-efficient cooking methods to food packaging.

John Lewis

• Value Ranges: Launched 'ANYDAY' to offer more affordable fashion and homeware lines.

John Lewis Partnership

• Financial Support: £500 one-off cost of living payment and doubled Financial Assistance Fund to support employees.
• Free Meals: Offering free meals to employees and seasonal staff.
• Food Donations: Working closely with 'FareShare', donating the equivalent of 10 million meals to local organisations since 2017. Also working with 'Home Start', teaching volunteers essential cooking skills to help families cook more affordable meals.

Kingfisher

• Lobbying Government To:
  • Introduce a new grant funding scheme for lower-income households to fund the installation of energy efficient measures.
  • Axe VAT on all energy efficiency products.
  • Reduce stamp duty for homebuyers who either purchase more energy efficient properties or install energy efficiency measures within two years of completing a purchase.

Lidl

• Price Cuts: Reduced price of own-brand staples like bread, milk and butter.
• Staff Pay Increase: Staff pay increase from £11 to £11.40 and £12.30 based on length of service, and inside M25 will rise to £12.85, increasing to £13.15 depending on length of service.
• Increased Food Donations: Partnered with Neighbourly to implement 'Good to Give' signage on edge of shelves in-store to help encourage more donations from customers to food banks.

M&S

• Lower Prices: Invested in lowering the prices of staple grocery items, including bananas, milk, bread and beef mince, across its Remarksable range. Also launches 'Bigger Pack Better Value' items across fridge and cupboard essentials.
• Free Meals For Children: Launched 'Kids eat free' deal at its cafes during all school holidays throughout the year. Children can eat a £3.95 meal deal for free when customers spend £5 or more.
• Charitable Donations: Partnered with Neighbourly on 'Gifts That Give' campaign to donate £1m to 1000 local community groups.

Morrisons

• Price Cuts: Cut prices on more than 500 products, including on everyday staples like bread, cheese, cereal and coffee, and improved multibuy savings on 180 lines. Cut prices on a quarter of its 235 own-label entry-level ranges - Morrisons Savers, Morrisons Wonky and Morrisons Essentials.
• Staff Pay Increase: Increased staff pay to a minimum of £10.20 per hour. All stores-workers within M25 also receive supplement of 85p per hour (was just inner London before).
• Food Donations: Donated £100,000 of food over summer to help low-income households during school holidays.
• Free Meals: Free kids meal for any adult who spends over £4.49 in the café all day every day. Free jacket potato and beans for any shopper who 'asks for Henry'.

Ocado

• Increased Investment In Own Range: Expanded its Own Range by 30% over the past 12 months, giving customers over 750 products to choose from, and plan to expand further in the months ahead.
• Guaranteed Low Prices On Everyday Groceries: Ocado's Everyday Savers range gives customers low prices on their most-loved everyday groceries, including a combination of branded and Ocado Own Range products. Prices are regularly monitored to make sure customers are consistently getting great value.
• Discounted Products: Consistently running product promotions.
• New Customer Offers: Currently offering new customers 25% off £60 on their first order and unlimited free deliveries for 3 months.
• Reducing Food Waste: Helping its customers reduce their wastage at home. Customers' delivery receipts are organised based on 'use by' dates of all fresh food products, so customers can plan meals while their food is at its freshest.
• Charitable Donations: Work closely with social enterprises, charities and food bank partners to redistribute food to reduce waste and help tackle food poverty in the UK. Donated over £4m in cash to charities seeking to tackle food poverty, as well as almost £10m in surplus stock in 2022.
• Matching Customers' Donations: Through its You Give We Give (YGWG) scheme, Ocado customers can add a donation for one of its food bank partners and food poverty-related social enterprises as part of their grocery shop. Ocado converts the donations to groceries, direct donations, or a combination of both, matches it, then gives the total amount to its charity partners. So, for every pound donated by its customers, Ocado's charity partners get two pounds' worth of groceries and/or money.
• Staff Benefits: Offer competitive salaries and market-leading benefits, which are reviewed on an ongoing basis. All Ocado employees have access to staff discounts on Ocado.com.

Primark

• Price Freezes: Froze prices on essential childrenswear items and bestsellers to help customers prepare for new school term.
• Staff Pay Increase: ​Moving all staff to one rate of pay by removing age-related pay for under 23's. Increased staff pay in England, Scotland and Wales to £11 an hour, and London-based stores increased to £11.51.

Pret A Manger

• Staff Pay Increase: ​Raised staff pay to £11.80-£14.10 an hour based on location and experience.

Poundland

• Value Products: Added thousands of new products to its £1 store price. Also launched an online initiative called 'Value Heroes' that offers a range of household staples for £1, as well as a 1p sale on one product every Wednesday.
• Additional Products: Rolled out frozen food to 20 further stores, meaning approx. half of stores provide chilled and frozen food for customers.

Richer Sounds

• Staff Pay Increase: Gave 5% increase to all staff in 2022.
• Staff Loan Scheme: "Helping Hand Fund" available for all staff - an interest free loan scheme.

Sainsbury's

• Price Cuts: Reduced price of own-brand staples like bread, milk and butter.
• Staff Pay Increase: Raised staff pay to at least £11 an hour.
• Price Investment: Investing over £550m by March 2023 into lowering prices.
• Price-matching: Focusing on price matching high volumes and fresh items such as chicken breasts and other meats, bread, eggs and vegetables to discounter brands. Currently price matching 300 products with Aldi prices.
• Price Freeze: Through Price Lock, customers have access to stable, low prices on everyday essentials such as dishwasher tablets, cereals and tinned tomatoes for at least 8 weeks at a time both online and instore.
• Loyalty Scheme: Introduced Nectar Prices, a new loyalty initiative which will give Nectar customers big savings on a wide range of products.
• Combined Own-Brand Offerings: Making it easier to find great value key staples under one brand. Offering 200 products, 10% which are new.
• Discounted Children's Meals: Free kids hot meal or lunch bag with the purchase of any adult hot main meal in cafes across school holidays. During term time, kids eat for £1 with the purchase of any adult hot main meal.
• Recipe Advice: Launched 'Feed your family for a fiver' recipes on Sainsbury's website and social.
• Free Food: Free food for store and depot colleagues during shifts for next six months.

Superdrug

• Customer Advice: Partnered with Jack Monroe on "Shop Smart" campaign, which aims to help customers understand how to keep costs down across their beauty and personal care routines.
  
• Price Freeze: 130 own-brand lines across personal care, beauty and healthcare price-locked in 2022.
• Staff Discounts: Staff have been offered a 10% discount for branded products, and 30% for own-brand products.
  
• Loyalty Scheme: Launched discount scheme for loyalty card holders called "Feel Good Fridays". Gives up to 60% discount on selected products.

Tesco

• Price Cuts: Reduced price of own-brand staples like bread, milk and butter.
• Staff Pay Increase: Announced further increase to hourly rate for colleagues to £11.02 an hour outside of London, up from £10.30, starting in April.
• Subsidised Meals For Staff: Provide free food for staff in its canteens.
• Staff Discount Extension: Increased the maximum store discount for staff from £500 to £1,500.
• Financial Advice: Offer Financial Wellbeing support to all staff.
• Easy Donations for Customers: Added a 'round-up' option at the checkout for customers. Money raised will be split between The Trussell Trust and FareShare.
• Free Children's Meals: "Kids Eat Free" café deal is available to Clubcard holders with any purchase (no minimum spend).
• Free Toiletries For Staff: Providing staff with free toiletries including deodorant and sanitary products for colleagues in stores.
• Price Locks: Locked prices on over 1,000 Everyday Products until Easter.

The Very Group

• ExpandedValueRanges: Launched Everyday across fashion and homewares, including school uniforms, which will cost on average 20% less than its own-brand range.

Waitrose

• Value Range: Essential Waitrose offers customers over 1000 products.
• Recipe Advice: Launched 'Super Saver recipes' for under £2 per portion meal inspiration.
• Loyalty Scheme: myWaitrose offers personalised discounts and other benefits including 20% off counters, and a free coffee every day with any purchase.

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