(Bloomberg) -- Morrisons will cut costs by £700 million ($866 million) over three years as the British supermarket seeks to compete with rivals.
Making savings will help Morrisons offer lower prices, boost service levels and expand its convenience stores, the chain said Thursday. Morrisons reported first-quarter revenue rose 3% to £4.7 billion, the first sales growth in two years.
The supermarket said sales momentum is improving after earnings dropped last year and Morrisons lost its spot as the UK’s fourth-largest grocer to Aldi.
The grocer, which was bought in a highly-leveraged deal by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in 2021, has struggled to keep prices as low as competitors.
Morrisons said in January that some of the cost savings include increasing the use of self-scanners in stores and giving store workers headsets and wearable scanners for packing online orders. It’s also using more double-decker trailers for deliveries.
The retailer is expanding its number of convenience stores, opening its 500th Morrisons Daily this week. Last year the grocer bought convenience chain McColl’s out of administration and it’s converting those stores into Morrisons Daily as well, at the pace of 10 shops a week.
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