Meal deal change hits Sainsbury's value perception

September 28, 2016, 8:50 AM GMT+0

Sainsbury’s recently changed the terms of its lunchtime meal deal offering, much to the dismay of many customers.

The move was met with bewilderment on social media (though a good proportion of this was firmly tongue in cheek) – with perhaps the most pertinent accusation that the ‘deal’ is actually no longer that.

New YouGov Omnibus research that at on their lunch break, the majority (55%) of people actually eat a meal they have prepared at home. Just 6% say they purchase a meal deal from a supermarket, a further 5% say they buy a meal deal from a food chain (e.g. Greggs, Boots) or from an independent café or shop.

However, the research did show that those in the 18-24 age group are far more likely to purchase a meal deal; 12% of this group say they do, compared to 2% of over 55s.

YouGov’s brand tracking data indicates that there has been an increase in people talking about the supermarket in the past few weeks. Sainsbury’s Word of Mouth Exposure score (whether a respondent has discussed a brand in the past fortnight) has risen by 3 points, and now stands at +15.

Unfortunately for Sainsbury’s as a result, its Value score (whether you think a brand provides Value for money) fell by 4 points among all respondents following the news of the change - though it has begun to recover slightly.

A similar fall is seen among current Sainsbury’s customers – among this group the Value score has fallen from +36 to +31.

Of course, this is a fairly minor change, and the future success and perception of Sainsbury’s hardly hinges on it. However, the lucrative lunchtime rush is important, and if meal-deal devotees do choose to abandon Sainsbury’s for a direct rival, don’t rule out a U-turn.

Image PA

See full meal deal results