Coles is reviewing its promotional and pricing strategies after admitting it had struggled with its 10-year quest to shift shoppers and suppliers towards 'everyday low prices' rather than discounts, which cost the Australian food and grocery sector $51 billion a year.

Coles general manager grocery Anna Croft told the Australian Food & Grocery Council's annual summit the retailer still had an "over reliance" on promotions and was discounting in categories "we shouldn't be promoting" despite a strategy to move towards 'everyday low prices', which help build customer trust and smooth peaks and troughs in the supply chain.