Morrisons knocks 6p a litre off petrol for six weeks beating three supermarket rivals ? but only if you shop instore
Morrisons has joined the supermarket petrol war by knocking 6p a litre off petrol and diesel prices at its 296 garages for three weeks from Monday 18 April. This takes the average price of unleaded petrol to around 126.72p ? but customers will only receive the discount if they spend �40 or more in store.
Morrisons is currently the most expensive supermarket petrol provider, according to figures from Experian Catalist, with Asda the cheapest. Its data shows that in the week beginning 11 April (Monday-Thursday prices) Morrisons charged a nationwide average of 132.72p per litre of unleaded petrol compared with 131.85p per litre across Sainsburys' garages, 132.5p across Tesco's 475 outlets and 131.12p at the 186 Asda garages.
Fuel costs have risen by an average of 15.9% over the year to the end of March 2011, driven by rocketing global oil prices that quickly reversed the 1p fuel duty cut announced by George Osborne in his 2011 budget.
A recent report from Equifax highlighted how the cost of petrol at the pumps is now so high that more than two-thirds of consumers use their credit cards to pay for filling up their vehicles. The cost has even seen out-of-town shopping malls hit by sales declines as consumers choose to shop local rather than incur the travel costs involved by visiting distant outlets.
With supermarket margins on petrol estimated to be in the low pennies per litre, the latest round of fuel discounts are loss-leaders, which is why the terms and conditions insist on shoppers spending minimum amounts in store before receiving their fuel discount vouchers.
The Morrisons offer will takes its unleaded petrol to an average 126.72p, beating its three largest rivals. But a Sainsburys spokeswoman said its discount vouchers (worth 5p off a litre of fuel when you spend �50 in store and valid for 14 days after the discount period officially ended on 12 April 2011) would take Sainsbury's unleaded to 126.85p per litre until 26 April, only marginally higher than Morrisons.
Co-op has been offering 5p off a litre across its 221 garages until 8 May when motorists spend a minimum �30, but Experian Catalist did not provide average nationwide petrol prices for Co-op because, a spokesman said, only a handful are Co-op-branded garages. "The rest are oil company brands such as BP, Esso, Shell, or Texaco, so it is unclear to the customer that the Coop is operating these sites," he said.
This makes price comparisons with Co-op difficult. However, a Co-op spokeswoman said: "Our garages are a mixture of Co-operative and fuel company-branded stations but they all have Co-operative Food stores at the forecourts," meaning its discount still applies to all 221 nationwide.
Morrisons said it has introduced the petrol deal in response to the pressures facing motorists hit by rising fuel prices and to "help customers celebrate Easter and the royal wedding with their family".
Richard Lancaster of Morrisons added: "With petrol prices at an all time high and disposable income down �100 a month on last year, we want to provide our customers the best deal on the market. We know that over the Easter holidays and the royal wedding, motorists will want to travel further to visit friends and relatives, but will be put off by the cost of petrol. Our offer ensures that our customers can enjoy this time and worry less about the cost."
The Morrisons offer closes on 8 May 2011.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/apr/17/morrisons-supermarket-petrol-war
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