Simply Better

compete in local markets and to attract share from smaller com-

petitors as well as from weaker national chains. It was also the

first to launch home delivery and Internet home shopping on a

significant scale.

During this period, Sainsbury largely stuck to its narrower

definition of the category as mainly food shopping, where it

traditionally had a competitive advantage, while largely disre-

garding nonfood items such as clothing and other household

products. It regarded value as unworthy of expensive commu-

nication, focusing instead on a more differentiated strategy

based on food quality. Meanwhile, Asda focused on price; Safe-

way concentrated on catering ...