Colruyt will no longer display where it has reduced prices in response to competitors

Colruyt is changing its price display policy: customers will now no longer be able to see when the price has been reduced in reaction to a promotion from one of its competitors. Only its own promotions are now shown in red.

This is a major shift for the retailer. For over 40 years Colruyt has been indicating in red the lowest prices in the region. They check the prices and promotions of all national and regional competitors every day.

For the retail stores with national coverage and which apply the same prices across the country, Colruyt follows their prices nationally, i.e. in all Colruyt shops in the country.

For the other shops, Colruyt works regionally: if they find a lower price, they lower their prices in the surrounding Colruyt shops.

But from now on, all prices – including reactions to prices and promotions from competitors – will simply be shown in black on the price label. Only their own promotions “on top of the lowest prices” will be marked in red. “We make it very simple for our customers: the lowest prices every day, in black and white. And our promotions which are definitely not to be missed will be marked in red,” says General Manager Chris Van Wettere.

“We always promise the lowest prices” is Colruyt’s motto, the supermarket chain therefore no longer needs to say explicitly when it adjusts its prices to those of competitors. In the past, this was always indicated on the shelf labels, but this will no longer be the case from now on. It is easier for the customers” says Colruyt.

Colruyt takes this opportunity to emphasise that the prices at the supermarket chain are not determined by the purchase price, but by the prices of the other supermarkets in the neighborhood. “The purchase price of our products is always separate from the selling price of our products”, it says. “Colruyt is a price follower and not a price setter. Our team of 120 employees takes care of that with 62,000 price surveys a day.” The Red Telephone does continue to exist.