“The aftermath of the Easter price war: Discounts dwindle but bargains still available in Norwegian supermarkets”

(The online newspaper): The shelves with Easter goodies have thinned out considerably after last week’s intense price war.

On several items, the prices are fixed, but you can still make good bargains, even if they can be very well hidden.

Sets the price

Nettavisen has checked two stores from each of the three low-price chains Extra, Kiwi and Rema 1000. In total, six stores have been checked, all located in central Oslo.

The check shows that there are far more normal prices in the shops this week.

• Gilde grilled sausages are set up from 27.90 to 42.90.
• Idun ketchup without sugar is priced from around NOK 12 to around NOK 19.
• Waffle mix from Toro is set up from 4.80 to 20.90.

– The Easter price war is over the top now. Some of the goods that were almost given away have now been swept away, says Odd Gisholt.

Gisholt has followed the Norwegian grocery industry for a number of years and was previously headmaster at Norway’s Commodities School and college lecturer at BI.

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One of the roughest prices last week was Nidar’s popular marzipan sausages, which the chains sold at 5.30. Of the six shops Nettavisen checked, only one had more of the marzipan sausages left, Extra in Pilestredet Park. But now the price is at a more normal level, 29.90.

– The stores can raise the price now. People are in place at Easter Mountain or on their way up. When Easter really sets in, price awareness is clearly falling. Then people take the goods from the shop with them, regardless of the cost, says Gisholt.

Keeps prices down

But prices are still kept low on several items.

• Freia chocolate bars (200 g) still cost 19.90.
• Oranges are still around NOK 9.
• Kvikklunj is sold in packs of three, four and six, and the price converted to a single Kvikklunj is between NOK 3.80 and 5.

Solo with sugar is still cheap at Extra. Only 7.10 for a 1.5 liter bottle. Rema 1000 has set the price for this at 27.90 and Kiwi at 28.90.

Nettavisen wrote about crazy Solo prices last week.

The new prices also have very special effects. Because even though individual bottles are priced higher at Kiwi and Rema 1000, the four-pack is still cheap. All three chains sell the four-pack for 29.90. This means that the price for a single bottle and a four-pack is almost the same.

Kiwi

• Single bottle: 28.90
• Four-pack: 29.90

Rema 1000

• Single bottle: 27.90
• Four-pack: 29.90

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Incorrect Solo price

But it is not easy to know that the four-pack is cheap at Kiwi and Rema 1000.

In both Kiwi stores, the four-packs of Solo are stacked, and there are large posters next to them that say the price is 49.90.

But when we get the item scanned in the till, the price is 29.90.

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At Rema 1000 there is a large poster: “Partivare 59.00”.

But when we get the item scanned in the till, the price is 29.90.

In the one Rema 1000 store, we also find six-packs of Kvikklunj in the store with a price poster that says 38.90.

But when we get the item scanned in the till, the price is 20.00.

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Grocery expert Odd Gisholt says the price war is not only popular among the merchants who run the stores. There is not a lot of money to be made by selling soft drinks so cheaply.

– The merchants want to lose as little as possible, of course. Especially where there is a so-called franchise, where the grocer owns the store themselves, they are extra goods when it comes to offers the store loses out on, says Gisholt.

In Kiwi, franchising is less widespread, while franchising applies in Rema 1000. Therefore, the merchants there are extra exposed.

– Many Rema 1000 merchants ask themselves: Why should I sell at a loss? says Odd Gisholt.

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Nettavisen has supercharged both Kiwi and Rema 1000 and why the Solo posters have the wrong price. We also posed the question:

– Don’t you want to sell so much of the cheap Solo package?

Communications manager at Kiwi, Kristine Arvin states that the four-pack of Solo has cost 29.90 since Friday.

– We apologize that the poster was not updated, it is a mistake that can happen in a very hectic everyday life. Both shops have corrected the poster now, and you would have paid NOK 29.90 at the till anyway, says Arvin to Nettavisen.

At Rema 1000, the price was wrong both on the Solo four-pack and on the six-pack with Kvikklunj.

– The posters in the store must be printed and hung up, so in a hectic period just before Easter with frequent price changes, it can occasionally happen that the store simply hasn’t been quick enough to replace the posters, says category and purchasing director in Rema 1000, Line Aarnes.

She adds:

– We always have the latest current price in the till, so the customer can be sure that they always get the right price when they pay, says Aarnes.

Much torn away

When Nettavisen checked shops on Monday morning, they were all over the top for Easter goodies, which were price dumped last week.

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– Kiwi has not encouraged the shops to set quantity restrictions and we have also kept the prices of the Easter goodies low. This has led to some stores running out of certain varieties, says Kristine Arvin in Kiwi.

Arvin points out that the Easter price war this time has been very special.

– The battle for customers continues in full swing. There has been tougher price competition at Easter this year than ever before. It benefits the customers, says Arvin.

Last week, Rema 1000 introduced a limit of a maximum of three items per customer on certain Easter items with a price cut.

– In some stores there has been a great demand for some Easter goods, but we are working hard to replenish the goods, says category and purchasing director at Rema 1000, Line Aarnes.

These items were missing from one or more of the chains Nettavisen checked: