Profitero announces findings of its 5th annual UK Price Wars study
Amazon has maintained its position as the lowest-priced online retailer in the U.K. for the fifth consecutive year, according to Profitero’s latest Price Wars study. The annual report, which tracks prices on more than 9,300 products across 18 major U.K. online retailers, found Amazon’s average prices were 15% lower than its competitors' in everyday categories, with the most significant price gaps appearing in essential goods.
Amazon maintained its strong lead in essentials, where traditional U.K. retailers like Asda, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s faced double-digit price gaps. Asda and Tesco’s prices averaged 10% and 16% higher than Amazon’s in the Packaged Foods & Alcohol category, respectively, while Sainsbury’s price gap in the same category widened slightly from 19% to 20% higher compared to last year.
While Amazon held a substantial lead in essentials, other retailers showed strength in select categories. Smyths and John Lewis remained competitive in gifting, offering toys and electronic items at prices 3% and 4% higher than Amazon’s in their respective categories.. In categories such as Pet Supplies, Sports, and Video Games, major retailers kept price differences under 10%, appealing to holiday shoppers.
Key Highlights from the 2024 Price Wars Study:
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Amazon cleans up in Household Supplies: Amazon widened its lead in Household Supplies, with prices that were an average 16% lower compared to rivals such as Asda, Tesco and Very, up from 13% last year.
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John Lewis charges ahead in Electronics: John Lewis improved its pricing offering for electronics, though still at a 4% premium to Amazon, down three percentage points from last year. However, other electronics retailers such as Argos, Currys and Very saw their price gap from Amazon widen in this category.
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Amazon shines with lower Health and Beauty costs: Boots prices were 25% higher than Amazon’s on average in Health and Beauty categories, with Amazon offering lower prices 82% of the time compared to Boots, while price-matching 17% of the time.
"UK price inflation fell to 1.7% in September, but with consumer confidence still lukewarm, shoppers are entering the holiday season with a watchful eye on their spending. Retailers that can maintain consistently low prices will have the upper hand in capturing the wallets of cautious consumers," said Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero.
To read this year’s report and to find out more about how retailers compare in price, please visit: https://www.profitero.com/report/price-wars-uk-2024
Notes to Editors
Only identical items available and in-stock in the same pack configuration were compared. Data was collected daily over 12 weeks (08 July - 29 Sept, 2024), with daily prices averaged over the full period for comparison. Prices for the same items were collected within 24 hours of each other to ensure validity of the comparisons. To refer to past Profitero Price Wars studies, please go to: profitero.com/insights.
Retailers featured in the study included: Amazon UK, Argos, Asda, ASOS, Boots, Currys, B&Q John Lewis, Morrisons, Next, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Smyths Toys, Sports Direct, Tesco, Very, Zalando and Zooplus.
About Profitero
Profitero is the trusted commerce partner to over 4,000 of the world’s leading brands, with an end-to-end system that connects data, insight and action to accelerate your growth. With Profitero, content, media, and operations teams can get accurate, reliable digital shelf insights across 1,200+ retailers in 70+ countries, guidance from experienced commerce practitioners, and shelf-intelligent automation and AI tools that empower them to go faster. www.profitero.com