Thursday 24 October 2013

Supermarket cost comparison

Recently I returned to online shopping. I have a leg problem that barely supports me properly never mind lugging groceries. I've been pretending this is all very temporary but as the food supplies dwindled and the challenge of cupboard cuisine got harder it became a moot point.

I am a complete "Supermarket Tart". By that I mean the food and household cash is available to the retailer who has the best offers such as money off or petrol deals, has new and innovative things or who stocks things we like best.

I like Sainsburys, as I reckon their food quality is best but a large ASDA is also on my way home from work so I use them for stocking up on basics and homewares/non-food items. Home Bargains for toilet and kitchen rolls, Lidl and Aldi for continental goods and lovely fresh fruit and veg and Waitrose their fabulous frozen chopped Thai spice mix, garlic and cheese. Iceland is a surprising contender too for frozen and fresh stuff and their wonderful ready made frozen chicken sliced. Morrisons and Tesco are a bit 'meh' so I usually only visit when they have an offer on. As you can see for shopping, I do get about a bit!

I was also lead to believe from all the advertising and till point chitties that there was probably only a few pence between all the supermarkets now that they price match. How wrong could I have been....???

All the big supermarkets deliver here so I did a 'virtual order' on My Supermarket to check who would be cheapest. I was utterly shocked that Tesco was £55 more expensive than ASDA for the SAME order and the others weren't much better. Obviously, ASDA got my 'real' order and their £15 delivery pass for three months will allow me to do small restocks without incurring lots of delivery charges while my leg recovers.

It is always reassuring to feel you've got the best deal but I am horrified by how wrong I'd got it in terms of working out where to get best value for the same items. By value I don't mean own brand generics or dodgy white label ranges, I mean lowest cost of my shopping. It also is a salutary lesson in how insidious the advertising is as I already thought I was a savvy shopper. When I am mobile again I'll still go round getting my special bits from the other supermarkets but with such a wide price variation ASDA has priced themselves firmly into our home - big style!

Ps. for anyone who thinks this might be an stealthy piece of social media advertising please think again. This blog is my thoughts and experiences alone. The only money involved was the ruddy great saving made by choosing the right mob to hurtle round with the week's shopping!  

1 comment:

  1. Mommy mostly shops at a couple of online grocery stores here in the twin cities. One has bulk items that Mommy likes, and one has better meat items and more variety. We don't have a car, Mommy hates grocery shopping (buses are crowded, she has a cane, and cabs are too expensive). and we mostly shop once a month. Then carrying milk or something is not too bad when you run out.
    Both of these places are not where we get MY food. There is a pet food delivery place that doesn't charge for delivery, and they have bigger (cost effective) bags and cans and even brought us a new litter box when ours broke. Yes, they do break! And they came right away, too!
    Our tv news does occasional price comparisons on grocery stores, too, which does help.
    We are on a really tight budget, so we understand and congratulate you for finding good prices!

    ReplyDelete

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