AS YOU tuck in to a slice of wholemeal toast topped with honey, and a cup of fresh coffee spare a thought for Justin King and Stuart Rose, respectively the bosses of J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer.

While their rivals, Tesco and Waitrose do not seem to be able to put a foot wrong, Sainsbury’s and M&S’s food departments are trying desperately to work out how to lure shoppers through their doors. In the past three years, Sainsbury’s has lost 0.8 percentage points of market share while Tesco has gained 5.2.

Analysts believe both Sainsbury’s and M&S are losing out because they are not offering customers the same low prices on offer at Tesco, Asda and Wm Morrison. One expert says: “Everywhere you look in Sainsbury’s you get the impression of poor value.”

Sainsbury’s appears to shy away from the “wow” factor of clear, price-led displays. Meanwhile its low-price own label products are difficult to find.

A former director says: “Customers judge what their experience of a store is going to be in the first 20 ft. What message is Sainsbury’s giving out with flower displays? Customers should find themselves in front of something that says ‘fantastic value’.”

Sainsbury’s tendency to stock many versions of a particular item, such as five types of hummus, also means that it is unable to get the benefit of volume-driven lower prices from suppliers and simultaneously increases the risk of selling out of ranges.

A retail industry expert said: “Sainsbury’s is driving up costs and wastage, while giving poor value for money and making an incoherent presentation for the customer. It needs to show customers it has worked hard to source the best possible product and given them a choice which its rivals don’t have.”

The majority of senior food industry executives questioned by The Times put price way down the list of problems for Sainsbury’s.

Industry sources said that on everyday items for which shoppers regularly compared prices, such as milk, butter and and baked beans, Sainsbury’s prices were in line with its main competitors.

A big issue for Sainsbury’s is getting the right product into stores at the right time.

One food industry source said: “The supply chain is causing huge problems. You go into a store and there are huge empty spaces on the shelves. Customers react very negatively to that.”

Sir Peter Davis, Sainsbury’s former chief executive, recognised that the supermarket’s systems needed updating and spent close to £3 billion in attempt to bring operations up to date. But retail sources say the plan implemented by Martin White, the former supply chain director who was ousted last month, relied too heavily on expensive automated systems, which can be inflexible and susceptible to glitches.

Sainsbury’s attempts to maintain its reputation as the store for quality food, promoted by Jamie Oliver, is leading to more disappointment when customers find the stores have a range not obviously different to that in Tesco.

Likewise, M&S has failed to keep pace with improvements in quality at its competitors and so it has become difficult for customers to understand why they should pay the store’s higher prices.

Meanwhile, Waitrose is performing extremely well, gaining 0.5 points of market share in the past three years, and showing underlying sales growth of 3 per cent. Its focus on superior quality and response to customers’ concerns about where and how food is being produced has helped it to eat into the heartland of Sainsbury’s and M&S.

All observers agree that both M&S and Sainsbury have lost sight sight of exactly who their customers are and what they want.

With both chains only just emerging from a whirl of management changes their messages have got even more muddled.

Simon Threadkell, design director at Fitch, the branding consultancy that created the Sainsbury Local shops, says: “I have seen a sea change at Sainsbury in the past eight months, reflecting its loss of confidence. One minute you go in and the store is plastered with promotional offers and the next time you go it is all about quality. It has a schizophrenic approach.”

Justin King, Sainsbury’s chief executive, has just a few more days to work out what the ailing chain is all about.