Shoppers using a Sainsbury’s Nectar card are being warned they could be spending an extra £105 on their groceries per year.
According to the latest monthly analysis from consumer website Which?, a shopping list of 55 popular grocery items in November cost an average of £106.71 at Sainsbury’s for those using their Nectar card – £8.82 more than at Aldi, the UK’s cheapest supermarket. Over the course of a year, this could result in an additional £105.84 in costs.
Without a Nectar card, Sainsbury’s shoppers paid £112.06 for the same list of items, further widening the cost gap.
For comparison, Aldi shoppers paid just £97.89 on average for the same list and Lidl, which also offers a loyalty scheme (Lidl Plus), came in just slightly higher at £98.27.
Even without the Lidl Plus scheme, the basket cost £98.34, still significantly cheaper than Sainsbury’s prices.
The research also showed that for larger shops, Tesco, when using a Clubcard, was the most affordable option, with a total cost of £399.73 for 159 items. This was £9.63 cheaper than Asda’s price of £409.36.
Unsurprisingly, Waitrose proved to be the priciest supermarket overall with the same shopping list costing £452.09.
When considering smaller shops, Waitrose remained the most expensive, with a basket of items costing £123.32 on average – £25.43 more than Aldi’s £97.89, representing a 26% price difference.
Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: “Our latest monthly analysis once again sees Aldi crowned as the UK’s cheapest supermarket, however Lidl remains hot on its discounter rival’s heels.
“With Christmas just around the corner, people are looking to cut costs where they can.”
He added: “Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets consumers could save up to 21%, highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible.”
