How much less expensive is a shop at discounters Aldi and Lidl than their retail rivals in the UK grocery market? A lot.
According to another round of data from Which?, the two led the way again on the cheapest shop amongst all supermarket chains in the UK, which the average shop costing £74.23 and £75.61, respectively. That is not only more than £5 less costly than No. 3 retailer Asda, it is an astonishing £25 less to shop at Aldi than Waitrose. At a time when inflation is pinching wallets and purses, the difference is substantial.
“We know that across the nation many families are finding things tough due to the cost-of-living crisis,” Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi, said: “At Aldi, we’re determined to help by keeping costs low and quality high for our customers. We’re thrilled to yet again be named the UK’s cheapest supermarket.”
While the survey does include branded items, it also includes everyday purchases such as lettuce and apples. The Which? survey compared the same or similar 47 products at all of the stores, the results were pretty eye-opening. But Which? researchers took it a step further. They said if they rang up 152 products, including branded items, at the markets (excluding Aldi and Lidl), even shopping at Asda over Waitrose would be around £50 pound cheaper.
Digging a little deeper, in the 47-piece basket, Sainsbury’s (£83.22) and Tesco (£86.27) came in at less than £90, but still more than £10 pounds over a shop at Aldi. Morrisons (£91.14) and Ocado (£95.33) were on the high end, just ahead of Waitrose (£99.46).
The differences are beginning to change consumer purchasing patterns. Aldi is poised is poised to reach the top 4 in the UK as it closes in on Morrisons, according to data from Kantar. Which? noted that all of the Big Four have lost ground in the past eight months to the discount chains.
