UK-based co-operative group Co-op has made its biggest single investment in pricing to lower the costs of everyday essentials.

The £70m ($89.5m) investment will allow its 4.58 million active members to save up to 11% on retail prices and an average of £500 a year.

It will also allow the retailer to extend lower ‘member-only’ prices across nearly 200 essential fixed lines such as milk, eggs and bread.

In addition, the investment includes a retail price reduction on more than 600 ranges. It takes the total invested into Co-op prices this year to £90m.

According to the company, major cost savings and business improvements launched in the last year have led to realising the investment.

Co-op Food managing director Matt Hood said: “This £70m investment is the most significant ever made by a convenience retailer, allowing us to turbocharge our member pricing proposition for the millions of our members who shop with us every day, by tailoring the price cuts to those key lines we know our members buy the most.

“We are focused on delivering member-value in a way that will make the biggest difference to their weekly budgets, and I’m clear there should be no compromise on quality and value by shopping in convenience. This is not a loyalty scheme but rather the Co-op difference in action, whereby the people who own our business, our members, benefit every time they shop.”   

In April this year, Co-op revealed plans to invest more than £240m in the next five years to increase its membership proposition.