Costcutter is to ditch multibuy deals in favour of deep-cut price promotions in a dramatic change to its promotional strategy.

The company believes that cheaper individual items will appeal more to cash-strapped shoppers in the tough economic climate.

Costcutter trading and marketing director Angela Barber told C-Store that the new strategy would help it better convey its value-for-money message.

"Price is extremely important to shoppers at the moment," said Barber. "We're definitely seeing customers spending more on promotions."

Costcutter has invested a record £1m in a new high-profile TV advertising campaign for stores, which kicked off this month. It estimates that the new TV adverts, which will be shown on ITV at peak viewing times, will be seen by more than 10 million people at least once.

They will be supported by local and national newspaper campaigns, door-to-door leaflet drops and pos material.

Costcutter also plans to ramp up its store numbers this year, and is hoping to better its recent achievement of recruiting 200 new stores in less than eight months.

"There is an opportunity for the convenience sector to thrive in these tough economic times, as long as retailers maintain good availability, friendly service and strong visibility of promotions," Barber said.

"The strength of our consumer marketing, in terms of TV and national press campaigns, gives our retailers a major advantage over the competition."