Food Lion wants to be like Amazon.com and Walmart

Amazon.com and Walmart aren’t the only retailers lowering prices this month. Food Lion has jumped on bandwagon at its 1,100 stores with a three-pronged price reduction effort.

Food Lion has announced significant investments in prices throughout its stores by lowering prices on thousands of items that are most important to customers, according to the company, tapping into its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations.

The price reductions also include new, easier ways for Food Lion customers to identify savings thanks to a special sign package.

"Affordable prices and great deals are a significant part of our heritage at Food Lion and the reason why we have invested further to bring our customers even lower prices," said Meg Ham, president of Food Lion. "Today's announcement is not only about making grocery shopping more affordable for our customers, but also making it easier, as we have redesigned our in-store signage so customers can easily identify savings throughout the store."

The Food Lion announcement follows an Amazon.com announcement earlier in January to create a “better than Black Friday” holiday on July 15 to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The initiative includes numerous discounts for Prime members and those who sign up for a free 30 day trial of the program which offer free two day shipping to those who pay a $99 annual membership fee. The following week, Walmart countered that it was rolling back prices on thousands of items and lower to $35 from $50 the spending threshhold to qualify for free shipping.

In Food Lion’s case, the company said its price reductions are based on extensive customer research of frequently purchased items, such as everyday staples like apple juice, peanut butter, frozen vegetables, canned beans and household items like paper towels, detergent and much more.

To make sure shoppers are aware of the price cuts, the company plans to use three types of uniquely signed deal offers including:

• Hot Sale: Food Lion's top weekly MVP specials, and the best prices throughout the store, only available with an MVP card.

• WOW: Lower prices on thousands of items that matter most to customers, offered for longer periods of time.

• Low Price: Essential items throughout the store, priced affordably every day.

The price investments are said to be an extension of Food Lion's "Easy, Fresh and Affordable. You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day!" strategy. Other components of the strategy customers can experience in all of Food Lion's 1,100 stores are an expanded assortment of products and a renewed focus on customer service brought about by new customer-centric training for Food Lion's 63,000 associates.

In 2014, the company remodeled the first 76 stores as part of it's Easy, Fresh and Affordable strategy in the Wilmington and Greenville, N.C., markets and will complete an additional 160 stores in the greater Raleigh, N.C., market by the end of 2015. All of Food Lion's stores will be remodeled in markets over time to make shopping easy, fresh and affordable for customers.

Food Lion is a division of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group. Delhaize and Royal Ahold recently entered into a merger agreement.