AISLE BE DAMNED
Thousands wasting up to £832 a year by shopping at the wrong supermarket – is yours on the list?
Plus, we've explained how to slash your grocery costs
THOUSANDS of shoppers could be wasting up to £832 by buying their food at their local convenience stores.
Which? compared the cost of 42 popular grocery items at convenience chains Morrisons Daily, Sainsbury's Local and Tesco Express against prices at their full-sized supermarkets.
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Prices were compared on three separate occasions in June and July.
It found the biggest price difference for the basket was at Morrisons Daily, where shoppers paid 21% more on average for the same groceries than at a Morrisons supermarket.
However, shoppers risk paying double for selected items.
For example, a 400g tin of own-label chickpeas was 104% more expensive at the convenience store – £1 in comparison to 49p at the supermarket.
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While a 165g tub of Philadelphia soft cheese cost 63% more at £2.58 compared with £1.58 at the supermarket.
The total cost of the basket of groceries at Morrisons Daily averaged £16 more, which could set consumers back a total of £832 more over the course of the year if they bought the same products once a week, Which? warned.
Three products were discounted for loyalty scheme members in Morrisons' bigger stores but not at its convenience stores.
This menat the average price difference for cardholders would have been slightly higher at 22%.
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Which? found that Sainsbury’s and Tesco had fewer variations in their prices between convenience stores and larger stores.
However, Sainsbury's Nectar members could still pay an average of 14% more at Sainsbury’s Local, while Clubcard holders could pay 11% more at Tesco Express.
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Despite Tesco Express stores offering Clubcard prices, a pack of six Mr Kipling Bakewell Slices was £2.32 on average at Tesco Express but £1.50 at Tesco's main supermarkets – a 54% difference.
A 500g bag of own-label fusilli was 31% or 20p cheaper at a larger Sainsbury’s supermarket at 65p instead of 85p.
In total, the basket of 42 groceries averaged around £11 more at Sainsbury's Local and £10 more at Tesco Express for loyalty scheme members compared to their prices at the larger stores, adding up to more than £500 over a year.
All three supermarket convenience stores charged 8% more for two pints of own-label semi-skimmed milk – with or without a loyalty card.
A medium white Hovis loaf cost 12% more at both Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express, and 14% more at Morrisons Daily.
However, at Morrisons Daily, a 180g bag of Doritos Cool Original tortilla chips was 15% cheaper, a one-litre bottle of Robinsons orange squash was 25% less, and Kenco Millicano instant coffee was 32% cheaper.
On average, Clubcard holders paid 14% less for a five-pack of Nature Valley cereal bars at Tesco Express and 6% less for a 460g bottle of Heinz Tomato ketchup.
More than half of respondents in a survey by the watchdog shopped at convenience stores at least once a week, and used supermarket-branded options most often.
Which? Retail editor Ele Clark said: "Unfortunately, many people are without easy access to transport or online deliveries which leaves them reliant on smaller nearby stores.
"Convenience stores may often be easier to travel to and handy for shoppers who need to stock up on a few essentials, but people who have to use them regularly will be spending significantly more over the course of a year than those with access to larger supermarkets.
"Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco have committed to offer a broader range of budget and lower-priced ranges in their convenience stores as a result of Which? campaigning, but this latest research shows that more can still be done to increase the range of affordable product options for those consumers who rely on convenience stores.”
CUT GROCERY COSTS
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they've been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you'll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you'll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching "finest" or "luxury" products and instead going for "own" or value" type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they're misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you're on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
What do the supermarkets say?
A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "There may be price differences between convenience stores and supermarkets.
"This is because our Sainsbury’s Local stores, which tend to be located in city or town centre locations, often have higher operating costs relative to their size, such as rents and business rates."
Morrisons said: "We're always working hard to keep prices down and competitive for our customers while maintaining high standards and availability in all our stores.
"Last year, we became the first supermarket to introduce our budget ‘Savers’ range into Morrisons Daily stores nationwide.
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"We know our customers and business partners would like to see the More Card accepted in Morrisons Daily stores, so we are actively working on introducing the offer into our convenience estate in the coming months."
Tesco declined to comment.
COMPARE PRICES FOR THE BEST DEAL
JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn't mean it's always a good deal.
There are plenty of comparison websites out there that'll check prices for you - so don't be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
- is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.
- logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.
- is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.
- only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of.
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