Prize freezes are not a new tactic at retail, but one that merchants go back to time and again to establish a positive price image with current customers and reach out to those shopping elsewhere. Sixty-one percent of respondents to a 2011 poll on a Wegmans price freeze program thought it would be most effective in helping the chain keep existing customers while 36 percent said it would be equally effective in bringing new consumers.
Giant Eagle, the largest grocery chain in the Pittsburgh market, has launched its own "Low Price Lock" campaign, first reducing and then promising to hold the prices on 300 plus items until Jan. 2.
"These are uncertain times for us in terms of the costs we see from suppliers and uncertain times for customers in terms of the prices they see," Rob Borella, senior director, marketing for Giant Eagle, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "This is an effort to take away that uncertainty."
According to paper's reporting, Giant Eagle takes this step during a year when it has been subject to direct price comparison advertising from Walmart. The grocery store operator is also expanding its test of its Valu King limited assortment concept in the Pittsburgh area.
