Woolworths has revealed plans to further reduce promotions and focus on everyday value in stores in an effort to gain better “price trust” among consumers.

Speaking at the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s (AFGC) Food & Grocery Australia conference on Thursday, Woolworths’ director of buying, Peter McNamara, said the rising cost of living is a key concern of customers.

Woolworths’ shopper feedback revealed that price is the most important element of customer’s trust and is a key area of focus for the retailer.

McNamara highlighted the importance of “value beyond price”, saying that customers want to feel like they are getting the best deal and that they can trust this is what they are getting from the retailer.

“We want to be competitive in the marketplace, customers expect us to be competitive,” McNamara told conference attendees.

“Price trust is consistently one of the key metrics of store choice.”

In an effort to combat increased cost of living pressures, Woolworths is also investing in better productivity and in-store technology.

The retailer is hoping that its strategy of providing “good food, good prices, good acts,” will help grow sales in an increasingly competitive market.

McNamara was joined by Woolworths Supermarkets managing director, Claire Peters and director of Fresh Foods, Paul Harker in highlighting four other common themes in customer feedback.

Customers revealed a need for better convenience offerings due to being time-poor, an increasing awareness of health, wellbeing and the planet, a desire for new and different choices as well as the importance of being able to trust that the retailer is supporting the community and its supply partners.

Peters highlighted the impact of the Woolworths app in improving convenience and changing how people shop in particular through the “Don’t forget your bags” prompt on arrival in stores, an alert to stores when click-and-collect customers are a short distance away and in-store option which allows customers to find special offers off the digital catalogue to save time.

Peters also reiterated the need for more smaller format stores, a “more physical presence, closer to the customer” following on from the success of Metro stores.