The nation’s love affair with discount shops shows no sign of abating, with recent figures showing that half of British families now shop at Lidl or Aldi. And it’s not just the traditional supermarkets which these shoppers are shunning, but also the big-name brands that make up so much of their stock.
Research for the Observer, provided by home and kitchen appliance website ElectriQ, reveals that shoppers now feel loyalty to just seven brands, down more than 50% compared with five years ago.
“Shopping around for a better deal grew during the recession, and many consumers have continued to shop this way in the time since,” says Victor Stoica, managing director at ElectriQ. “Many are happy to abandon a family favourite for an almost identical product from a less well-known brand, if it means saving money.”
But can you really cut your bill by going to the likes of Poundland and Lidl and if so is there an art to shopping at the discounters?
Don’t go overboard
It is very easy to get carried away when surrounded by seemingly cheap goods and buy more than you had intended to. But it seems that this is only human nature, at least according to consumer psychologist Dr Dimitri Tsivrikos.
“Consumers spend more at the discount stores as they heavily engage in impulsive buying since they feel that they can not resist a bargain,” he says. “So they end up purchasing more lower-priced products, but the sum of their collective value always outweighs the economic rationale that they have employed prior to entering a discount store.”
Watch for non-standard sizes
A loaf of Warburtons Seeded Five Seed Batch Bread which sells for £1 at Poundland, for example, appears to be a great deal, until you realise that it is a 400g loaf, rather than the 800g size on offer at other retailers. Similarly, with Kellog’s cornflakes you can buy a 250g box for £1 at Poundland, but head to the supermarkets and you’ll get 500g and 750g boxes on offer for £1.75 and £1.98 respectively.
Smaller packages don’t always mean higher prices, however. When we visited Poundland some products did offer better value than the supermarket giants, despite the unusual sizes. A Windolene 4 action system for glass and shiny surfaces was selling at Poundland for £1 for 500ml, while a 750ml bottle was on sale for twice the price at Tesco. Cif chamomile wood floor cleaner was £2 at Tesco for a litre bottle but £1 at Poundland.
Check out dried produce
Budget stores are brilliant for dried produce, such as breads, pastas and the likes. These are often as good, if not better, than the branded offerings at the major supermarkets for a fraction of the costs. The stores often branch out with more experimental products too, so don’t lag too far behind the supermarkets, with products such as fajita kits tasting identical to the branded versions, but with a far more reasonable price tag.
Compare brands, but think
If you want to be sure you are getting a bargain, look for names you recognise and can compare prices on. But don’t make the mistake of assuming that all big brands are cheaper at the discounters. For example, 12 items of Diet Coke from Aldi were £3.55 at the time of writing, a 24-pack was just £6 at Tesco.
However, before picking up a tin of Heinz or a box of Kellogg’s reconsider any resistance you might have had to own brand goods. Aldi and Lidl have garnered many headlines over the years for food items that have come up trumps in taste tests. This year Grocer Food & Drink Own Label Awards surveyed 1,103 own-label products and found that Aldi and Lidl beat most of Britain’s supermarkets when it came to taste. For example Aldi fought of competition from the likes of M&S and Waitrose to get a Gold for its balsamic vinegar and its packaged bread.
Use a comparison website
Use mysupermarket.com to avoid the stores altogether and shop online or to compare prices on goods before you set off. The website will compare the cost of your weekly shop with a wide variety of retailers, including discounters Aldi, Poundland and Poundworld.
