Poundland to bring back ‘£1 rule’ & listen to customer complaints ‘loud and clear’ after ‘losing its way’

POUNDLAND is returning to its pound-price roots in a bid to win back shoppers.

After varying prices in recent years, the shop is returning to its original concept of products price at a pound.

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Each item will cost one of three prices: £1, £2 or £3 – with 65 percent of products at one pound.

Walking into a store, shoppers will see products sorted into sections according to price.

That means there will be bays for each of the price points.

The range of products that the shop sells is also being slashed in half.

The shop is also abandoning most discount sales, with the only remaining multiply deal being two £2 items for £3.

Barry Williams, managing director, told The Grocer: “Customers have told us loud and clear during these trials that they will back a simpler, more focused Poundland that keeps its promise of amazing value.

“We’ve heard them, and the clear success of our pilot is why I’m confident that a Poundland that’s focused on the simple value our customers expect, can have a bright future.”

Poundland has struggled in recent years, with shoppers complaining that it is “not actually that cheap anymore”.

They have also said the brand has lost its appeal by varying its prices.

One former Poundland director told The Guardian that the brand had “lost its way”.

He claimed it has become “far too complicated and confusing for customers” with such an array of different price points.

He said its decision in 2019 to drop the focus on £1 items also meant business operations, including running stores and dealing with suppliers, had become more costly and complex.

Poundland was put up for sale by its parent group, Pepco, after the budget in April and bought by the Gordon Brothers – who are putting it through a massive shakeup.

The firm said that the increase in national insurance and business rates would “add further pressure to Poundland’s cost base”.

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Williams said that colleagues are “loving it” because “replenishing from the warehouse to the shop floor is really simple”.

Part of the face change within the company has involved the closure of numerous stores.

Twelve were shuttered around the country on Tuesday as the firm pushed on with efforts to save the chain.

The outgoing stores launched closing down sales with prices slashed by up to 75 percent.

In all, Poundland confirmed it would be closing 48 locations this month.

The last 11 to go will be on August 31.

Poundland currently operates 800 stores nationwide, but hopes to significantly reduce this number to between 650 and 700.

This includes the 68 stores closing by mid-October, as well as additional stores shutting when leases expire and are not renewed.