The cheapest supermarket in the UK has been revealed after research conducted by Which? Find out which chain came out on top.
A budget retailer has been named as the cheapest supermarket in the UK. With the current cost of living in the UK, it’s always helpful to know which supermarket offers the best value for your regular shop. Competition between supermarket chains has been tight in recent months – and now research by consumer website Which? has revealed the cheapest supermarket for this year.
After comparing all supermarkets each month throughout 2024 and calculating the average spend per shopping trip, Aldi was found to be the cheapest supermarket of the year. Lidl came in second place, not far behind Aldi, charging only £1.99 more on average per shop.
| Supermarket | Average price for 56 items |
| Aldi | £100.29 |
| Lidl with Lidl Plus | £101.48 |
| Lidl | £101.56 |
| Tesco with Clubcard | £111.22 |
| Sainsbury’s with Nectar | £112.13 |
| Tesco | £112.90 |
| Asda | £113.22 |
| Morrisons with More | £114.01 |
| Morrisons | £116.32 |
| Sainsbury’s | £116.70 |
| Ocado | £120.83 |
| Waitrose | £129.83 |
The results were based on a shopping list of 56 items, including essentials like milk, butter, and bread. For example, research from December showed that Aldi’s average total was £100.29, whereas its most expensive competitor, Waitrose, charged nearly £30 more for the same basket of goods.
Another analysis conducted by Which? revealed that Asda was the cheapest supermarket for larger shops, but only for nine months of the year. But when loyalty schemes are taken into account, Tesco comes out as cheapest, followed by Sainsbury’s, saving up to £5.16 in groceries.
This research, based on a shopping list of 150 items, including the 56. Aldi and Lidl were excluded because they don’t consistently stock the same range of products as the larger chains. Over the course of the year, shoppers could save nearly £400 on groceries by choosing cheaper supermarkets.
Does having a loyalty card make a big difference?
The average saving when using a loyalty scheme ranges from 17 to 25 per cent off the original price. Supermarkets use loyalty schemes to build strong relationships with their customers, offering them cheaper prices compared to their competitors.
Loyalty pricing typically involves two prices on a product: the standard “retail” price and a lower price for customers with a loyalty card. Supermarkets in the UK that currently offer loyalty cards include:
- Tesco
- Asda
- Lidl
- Sainsbury’s
- Co-op
- Morrisons
- Iceland
- Waitrose
- Marks & Spencer
Aldi does not currently offer a loyalty scheme. But that hasn’t stopped it from climbing to the top of the rankings for 12 months straight.