Citing Kantar data over the past four weeks, discount retailer Aldi says that British consumers could save £45 a month, or £542 a year, if they shopped at its supermarkets over the Big Four – Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.
With inflation rocking the UK market and families likely to see a £380 increase no matter where they shop, every item they put in their baskets matter. Aldi says its own-label grocery sales have risen by nearly 3% over the past month as consumers turn away from more expensive branded products. Discounters clearly have an edge, although others have launched robust price-matching schemes to try to offset those differences.
Last week, consumer agency Which? Said Aldi was the least expensive of all UK supermarkets, coming in at about 15% less than the Big Four on a shop of 52 items.
“People are facing difficult choices about how they spend their money and are changing the way they shop to stretch budgets as far as possible,” Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley said. “Shoppers are switching from brands to own-label products because they know they are often the same or better in terms of quality and taste. It costs a lot of money to market a mainstream brand, but you don’t have to pay for this when you buy a better value own-label alternative.”
Still, others are doing their best to remain competitive. Tesco increased the number of price-matched products at Aldi to 650 and it says it sees nearly 100% of all shoppers who have large baskets have those products included in them.
“Clearly, the external environment has become more challenging in recent months,” said Tesco CEO Ken Murphy. “Against a tough backdrop for our customers and with household budgets under pressure, we are laser-focused on keeping the cost of the weekly shop in check – working in close partnership with our suppliers, as well as doing everything we can to reduce our own costs. Through our powerful combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices, we are making more products more affordable, in more places than anyone else.”
Sainsbury’s has price-matched 240 items – some are not available in smaller stores – that do include some fresh produce items, including honeydew, imperfect strawberries, Faitrade bananas, carrots, mushrooms and baking potatoes.
