Shoppers can make big savings by signing up to become members and getting Club, Nectar or More cards. While dual pricing is controversial, there are undoubtedly savings to be made for those willing to sign up.
Of course, the hope of the supermarket giants is loyalty cards will ensure customers stick with them and do their shopping there all time time, feeling they can’t miss out on the bargains. Certain loyalty schemes use a points system as well as dual-pricing, allowing shoppers to save even more. But are these memberships really the big saver people think they are?
Not always. While loyalty cards will knock money off a shop, analysis by Which? found Aldi would still be cheaper than all its rivals for a smaller shop. According to the analysis, Aldi was the cheapest supermarket across the whole year, despite being one of the only retailers yet to introduce dual pricing or a points-based membership.
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This was based on a random basket of 56 items, including essential groceries. Discount rival Lidl came in a close second, charging on average just £1.99 more every month – while at the other end of the scale Waitrose earned the title of most expensive supermarket for every month of 2024, the Mirror reports.
However, because they have a much smaller product range, Aldi and Lidl were not included from Which?’s bigger basket comparison, which totalled up the costs of 158 branded and non-branded goods.” In this test,Asdawas the cheapest supermarket for nine out of 12 months, until loyalty cards were brought into play. Tesco then became the cheapest.
When it comes to a bigger shop, the research shows loyalty cards are worth it with the three cheapest shops all featuring them, with Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.
“This analysis didn’t include Aldi or Lidl as they have smaller product ranges,” Which? said. “However,Tescowas cheaper nearly half the time after we began including loyalty discounts in our analysis in June 2024.”
Basket of 56 items – December 2024
- Aldi – £100.29
- Lidl with Lidl Plus – £101.48
- Lidl – £101.56
- Tesco (with a 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 – £116.32
- Ocado – £120.83
- Waitrose – £129.83
Basket of 158 items – December 2024
- Tesco (with Clubcard) – £410.40
- Sainsbury’s (with Nectar) – £412.14
- Morrisons (with More) – £414.06
- Asda – £415.56
- Morrisons – £426.86
- Tesco – £440.40
- Ocado – £444.12
- Sainsbury’s- £444.67
- Waitrose – £458.12