Topic: Supermarkets in United Kingdom (Read 171 times)
My favorite supermarket is Iceland, it has very high quality products. But I've only been to the United Kingdom 4 times
My top after a month in uk might be morrisons at the best, tho I had problems once giving me ciggaretes. I am older than 40's and still asking for my ID. Tho, everytime I found everything I wanted.
LIDL is the second as I already used with him from all across Europe.
And the worse I got in is the Tesco. Even the prices look way bigger.
LIDL is the second as I already used with him from all across Europe.
And the worse I got in is the Tesco. Even the prices look way bigger.
There is this article which states the best and worst supermarkets of 2018.
It's not a professional study and it's done on a small number of individuals.
Access Here
You can clearly see that:
Lidl has the worst design, queuing time, staff availability however offers the highest value for money (this doesn't mean products are of high quality, only more affordable)
M&S has the best design and quality of OWN LABEL products.
Waitrose offers the worst value for money (products are of high quality but they are not affordable by the wide public).
At the end of the day, it depends from shopper to shopper. I believe that the financial availability makes the most difference on where you go shopping. You either eat an affordable Tomato Sauce with Pasta Fusili from Lidl or have a nice Foie Gras from Waitrose.
Something I wish you discussed is Amazon Fresh. Most people never used it but it's a nice experience.
It's not a professional study and it's done on a small number of individuals.
Access Here
You can clearly see that:
Lidl has the worst design, queuing time, staff availability however offers the highest value for money (this doesn't mean products are of high quality, only more affordable)
M&S has the best design and quality of OWN LABEL products.
Waitrose offers the worst value for money (products are of high quality but they are not affordable by the wide public).
At the end of the day, it depends from shopper to shopper. I believe that the financial availability makes the most difference on where you go shopping. You either eat an affordable Tomato Sauce with Pasta Fusili from Lidl or have a nice Foie Gras from Waitrose.
Something I wish you discussed is Amazon Fresh. Most people never used it but it's a nice experience.
I dont know if the products in the UK Lidl are different than where i live (Netherlands). But over here i have to say the products they offer are of good quality if yiu know what you are looking for. Especially the top range, called Delicieux which they offer during the holidays (christmas, eastern etc).
I agree about Lidl. In my country they offer good quality products for a great price. Basically, it's same products which can be found at other supermarkets. Only difference is brand of product. Lidl selling almost all products in their own brands, while other shops selling famous brand product, only difference is price. It's same products, made by same manufacturer. Offcourse, if you're looking for top brands products, Lidl isn't choice for you.
We don't get Delicieux unfortunately.
I tested Lidl in more countries, including Italy and France and I can tell you that there were minimum differences. In Italy however, Lidl's experience felt just like in other supermarkets as I couldn't find anything that's 'top end'. Do you have any top supermarket chains in Netherlands?
I tested Lidl in more countries, including Italy and France and I can tell you that there were minimum differences. In Italy however, Lidl's experience felt just like in other supermarkets as I couldn't find anything that's 'top end'. Do you have any top supermarket chains in Netherlands?
I dont know if the products in the UK Lidl are different than where i live (Netherlands). But over here i have to say the products they offer are of good quality if yiu know what you are looking for. Especially the top range, called Delicieux which they offer during the holidays (christmas, eastern etc).
Aldi is a great store imo
This is interesting fact . Thanks op
I live in UK and we have different supermarkets. I want to share my experience regarding some of them, so if you ever come to the UK
you can choose where to shop your just-converted-to-fiat Bitcoins.
I will rank these supermarkets based on quality and the overall experience I personally had. Your opinion may be different.
Lidl
At the bottom of the list we have Lidl. This shop is nice if you are lower-medium middle class or you don't want to spend too much. If you don't like
quality of food and don't care about what you eat, then it's the best choice for you. From what I know, Lidl is the only shop in UK where
you will find the least expensive milk and bread, because they sell milk and bread at loss! They recover the financial 'gap' with other products
so it's a 'healthy business' for them.
Unfortunately, even today 30/12/2018 I know people who purchased products such as 'Italian Mortadella' expired on the 25th December 2018. Therefore,
make sure that you check the expiry date for every product.
The shop has a variety of products and you'll be able to purchase most of the things. The experience at the till or, when you need help is
not always best. For example, there are self checkouts like this one:
One day I had the fix number of coins to do shopping (a variety of 5 pence, 1 penny, 10 pence and 20 pence to cover a £2 expenditure).
The self checkout machine was not working correctly and when I asked for help, the person in charge said that the machine doesn't accept small
coins of 5p, when in reality it does! In fact, in the past I used to do shopping at Lidl with low coins (1 penny, 5 pence, etc.). She was a blatant liar
and I had to wait approximately 10 MINUTES for the manager to come, take my coins, give it to the till and tell me that I can go.
Obviously I didn't even get a receipt (in UK it's not illegal to sell items without giving receipt however if the customer asks, you must
give receipt). I didn't stay longer to 'fight' for the receipt because I already waited too much.
Aldi
I believe Aldi was started by Lidl founder's brother so don't be surprise if you will have a similar experience.
Aldi offers good prices for a variety of food items, however their non-food products are insanely expensive for the quality offered.
Furthermore, the range of frozen items is definitely better elsewhere. I only purchased once expired products at Aldi and it was
yogurt & juice fruit that expired around 4 days before the date of purchase. I obviously did not consume such items, so make sure you
also check the expiry date.
The shopping experience doesn't look great and sometimes the stores feel claustrophobic. It's not nice to touch with other persons in
some product departments!
Overall, I rarely go to Aldi
Heron Foods
Not recognized by the majority, this is a small chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. The variety of products is very low and
you will most likely find two types of products: frozen items (chicken, broccoli, pizza, pork, beef, lasagna, etc.) and refrigerated
products (milk, yogurt, soda, etc.). There are also some canned products but in limited quantity. Overall, the quantity of these items is
similar to Lidl & Aldi.
The experience is usually better, because it's a well designed store where you can find what you're looking for, it's also not claustrophobic but,
again you will not find everything you expect to find! Oh, and members of staff at the till seems to be trained to not give receipts. You
will always be asked if you want receipt and sometimes, they assume you don't so you don't get it at all. I had a dispute once because
the member of staff didn't even ask for receipt and was awarded £100 in products by the manager as an apologies. I am still being
asked if I want a receipt every time and I'm sure they would like the response to be negative, so they can pay less taxes and say that
their products resulted in a loss (remember, they sell milk, yogurt etc which have a short term expiry date).
Iceland
Iceland sells the same variety of items as Heron Foods (frozen and refrigerated). The only difference is that Iceland's items are more
expensive however they are of higher quality. I never found expired items in any of these stores, Iceland doesn't offer as
much discounts as Heron Foods. The store is nice in terms of physical space available for shoppers, however tills are always close
to each other and you may find difficult to leave the store during peak hours. Sometimes you may have to wait for other people
to move their trolleys so you can pass with yours.
Tesco
Hopefully it's not a surprise that Tesco is a decent supermarket. You will find different types of Tesco: Tesco Metro, Tesco Express,
Tesco Superstore, Tesco Extra. They differ in size and products availability however my personal recommendation are Superstore
and Extra which are the biggest. I never visited Tesco Metro.
The reason I place Tesco higher than its competitors is that most stores have capable individuals performing their management positions.
The QUALITY-CONTROL and EXPIRY-DATE are on point. Basically, as the expiry date for products arrives, these products get discounted.
The last day they expire, you may purchase such products for a fraction of their price. For example, a frozen chicken that costs £5 and is expiring on X/Y/ZZZZ,
you can purchase it on X/Y/ZZZZ after ~ 6pm for just £0.50 (it happened to me!). It's useless to say that I had a very nice dinner!
Something you may not like is that other people in UK know about these discounts and you may have to 'fight' for your products. Most of Hindi
do not buy beef so I nearly always get the beef from them for just 10% of its retail price. That's why I always look for Tescos in the least
known areas which are not easily accessible. I don't know if smaller Tesco offer these types of super discounts.
Overall prices are sometimes expensive (a medium size cup of fruits, cut and ready to eat for £4?). Other times, you may find Tesco beating
its lowest competitors in price. I found red wine least expensive at Tesco than Lidl.
The customer experience is nice, members of staff seem to be trained to be 'useful to customers' and show kindness.
Asda
Are you American or you want an American experience? Asda is owned by Walmart and was incorporated 69 years ago [had to mention this
since it's such a nice number that can make 6 or 9 years old kids laugh].
The 'so good' about Asda is that everything is a superstore. It seems like you enter in the USA and you don't know how to get out. I like
the HUGE pizza they offer but more than that, I believe products are highly qualitative. If you need petrol and food, go and have shopping
at Asda because they offer high discounts on Asda Petrol! Here in United Kingdom today's price of petrol is expensive, around
£1.20 and if you shop at Asda around £30-£50, you can get 0.10 off for each liter of fuel. I truly recommend if you want to 'win' on other
sides (At the end of the day Asda is American right? OIL!).
The shopping experience is fantastic, however in some shops it may difficult to find members of staff available. They are kind people and
offer their help. Sometimes, even if you're not looking for help they engage in conversation to make sure that you're having a nice shopping
experience.
Do not buy shampoos, deodorants, soap, condoms(£20 a pack!?!?!?!??!) or other similar stuff from Asda. These are more expensive than in other
competitors and offer the same exact product.
Morrisons
This company also operates only Super Stores (aka HUGE STORES).
The number of products available is insane. Something I don't like however is that I never find Coca-Cola (the traditional one) in the
1.5L bottles. I can only find Coca-Cola mango, Coca-Cola cherry, Pepsi but no Coca-Cola traditional. It's always sold when I look for it!
This store offers you from 'average products' such as items that you expect to find, to a range of 'unexpected' products. For example, why
not enjoying a nice Brandy Butter from Morrisons like the Queen does? (Quick tip: do not eat it as normal butter and try to look like a British person).
Do you want to change your style of drinking water? Go to Morrisons, you can find 'canned water' (just like you drink coca-cola in cans but they don't
have coca-cola so this example is invalid).
Oh, did I mention that there is a special department in Morrisons where you can create your own huge 20 inches (50cm) pizza that you can bring home and
place in oven? You can tell members of staff what to put on it, salami - tomatoes - dried tomatoes - pepperoni - etc
The experience for shopping looks of high quality. You usually don't have problems in this store.
While Morrisons also sells products that are expiring the same day (like Tesco), they don't make it obvious and you won't have to 'fight' for the
same day expiry products. That's how I got last Halloween some Toffee-apple for just £0.03 from their original £1 price.
Oh and by the way, Amazon is 'flirting' with Morrisons so my personal expectation is that it will be purchased by the huge American in the near future.
Marks and Spencer
Just look at the logo, how simple. Personally, I define Marks and Spencer as the 'Apple' of supermarkets in United Kingdom. While they also sell clothes, Marks and Spencer operates supermarkets on its ground floor. The quality of products is at its highest, the price is not very low but personally I believe it is worth it.
While every other store in United Kingdom will sell you packed sandwiches with ham & mayo or mayo & chicken, Marks and Spencer
will sell you sandwiches containing a mix of Avocado, Cheddar, Salad, Chicken, Pork, Carrot, etc. Their name are even well chosen. For example,
don't you want to have a Rainbow Egg or Super Green? Same as the sandwiches, the variety of products is very high. What I like is that you don't
simply see 'any types of products' but only those worth to be under the name of Marks and Spencer. Personally, I recommend Marks and Spencer for
people who are top middle class or already rich. Nothing wrong in this store, you get receipts, members of staff assist you and they are always
available. You don't have to check expiry dates of products so you can be relaxed.
Waitrose
This is only for the rich people. When I worked in Financial Trading in London, I can guarantee that every 'Wolf of the City' (equivalent of Wolf of Wall street
but in British/Londonish) purchased from Waitrose. Here you can expect a salt to cost as much as £6 for just few hundred grams. Did I mention that
you can buy 100grams of Jamon Iberico de Bellota for £11? It is worth because this ham melts in your mouth so it's something particular.
If you are middle class, you may still want to purchase once in a while from Waitrose, I promise you will love it. Everything is consistently
fantastic and it's a must try experience. I am not going to tell you more as I don't want to ruin the surprises.
There are others which are available but I did not include in this list because my experience has not been 'memorable' or, I didn't got so
often to these stores. The list could also include: Sainsbury's (similar to Tesco), BM European Value Retail, TKMAXX, Co-op, etc.
you can choose where to shop your just-converted-to-fiat Bitcoins.
I will rank these supermarkets based on quality and the overall experience I personally had. Your opinion may be different.
Lidl
At the bottom of the list we have Lidl. This shop is nice if you are lower-medium middle class or you don't want to spend too much. If you don't like
quality of food and don't care about what you eat, then it's the best choice for you. From what I know, Lidl is the only shop in UK where
you will find the least expensive milk and bread, because they sell milk and bread at loss! They recover the financial 'gap' with other products
so it's a 'healthy business' for them.
Unfortunately, even today 30/12/2018 I know people who purchased products such as 'Italian Mortadella' expired on the 25th December 2018. Therefore,
make sure that you check the expiry date for every product.
The shop has a variety of products and you'll be able to purchase most of the things. The experience at the till or, when you need help is
not always best. For example, there are self checkouts like this one:
One day I had the fix number of coins to do shopping (a variety of 5 pence, 1 penny, 10 pence and 20 pence to cover a £2 expenditure).
The self checkout machine was not working correctly and when I asked for help, the person in charge said that the machine doesn't accept small
coins of 5p, when in reality it does! In fact, in the past I used to do shopping at Lidl with low coins (1 penny, 5 pence, etc.). She was a blatant liar
and I had to wait approximately 10 MINUTES for the manager to come, take my coins, give it to the till and tell me that I can go.
Obviously I didn't even get a receipt (in UK it's not illegal to sell items without giving receipt however if the customer asks, you must
give receipt). I didn't stay longer to 'fight' for the receipt because I already waited too much.
Aldi
I believe Aldi was started by Lidl founder's brother so don't be surprise if you will have a similar experience.
Aldi offers good prices for a variety of food items, however their non-food products are insanely expensive for the quality offered.
Furthermore, the range of frozen items is definitely better elsewhere. I only purchased once expired products at Aldi and it was
yogurt & juice fruit that expired around 4 days before the date of purchase. I obviously did not consume such items, so make sure you
also check the expiry date.
The shopping experience doesn't look great and sometimes the stores feel claustrophobic. It's not nice to touch with other persons in
some product departments!
Overall, I rarely go to Aldi
Heron Foods
Not recognized by the majority, this is a small chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. The variety of products is very low and
you will most likely find two types of products: frozen items (chicken, broccoli, pizza, pork, beef, lasagna, etc.) and refrigerated
products (milk, yogurt, soda, etc.). There are also some canned products but in limited quantity. Overall, the quantity of these items is
similar to Lidl & Aldi.
The experience is usually better, because it's a well designed store where you can find what you're looking for, it's also not claustrophobic but,
again you will not find everything you expect to find! Oh, and members of staff at the till seems to be trained to not give receipts. You
will always be asked if you want receipt and sometimes, they assume you don't so you don't get it at all. I had a dispute once because
the member of staff didn't even ask for receipt and was awarded £100 in products by the manager as an apologies. I am still being
asked if I want a receipt every time and I'm sure they would like the response to be negative, so they can pay less taxes and say that
their products resulted in a loss (remember, they sell milk, yogurt etc which have a short term expiry date).
Iceland
Iceland sells the same variety of items as Heron Foods (frozen and refrigerated). The only difference is that Iceland's items are more
expensive however they are of higher quality. I never found expired items in any of these stores, Iceland doesn't offer as
much discounts as Heron Foods. The store is nice in terms of physical space available for shoppers, however tills are always close
to each other and you may find difficult to leave the store during peak hours. Sometimes you may have to wait for other people
to move their trolleys so you can pass with yours.
Tesco
Hopefully it's not a surprise that Tesco is a decent supermarket. You will find different types of Tesco: Tesco Metro, Tesco Express,
Tesco Superstore, Tesco Extra. They differ in size and products availability however my personal recommendation are Superstore
and Extra which are the biggest. I never visited Tesco Metro.
The reason I place Tesco higher than its competitors is that most stores have capable individuals performing their management positions.
The QUALITY-CONTROL and EXPIRY-DATE are on point. Basically, as the expiry date for products arrives, these products get discounted.
The last day they expire, you may purchase such products for a fraction of their price. For example, a frozen chicken that costs £5 and is expiring on X/Y/ZZZZ,
you can purchase it on X/Y/ZZZZ after ~ 6pm for just £0.50 (it happened to me!). It's useless to say that I had a very nice dinner!
Something you may not like is that other people in UK know about these discounts and you may have to 'fight' for your products. Most of Hindi
do not buy beef so I nearly always get the beef from them for just 10% of its retail price. That's why I always look for Tescos in the least
known areas which are not easily accessible. I don't know if smaller Tesco offer these types of super discounts.
Overall prices are sometimes expensive (a medium size cup of fruits, cut and ready to eat for £4?). Other times, you may find Tesco beating
its lowest competitors in price. I found red wine least expensive at Tesco than Lidl.
The customer experience is nice, members of staff seem to be trained to be 'useful to customers' and show kindness.
Asda
Are you American or you want an American experience? Asda is owned by Walmart and was incorporated 69 years ago [had to mention this
since it's such a nice number that can make 6 or 9 years old kids laugh].
The 'so good' about Asda is that everything is a superstore. It seems like you enter in the USA and you don't know how to get out. I like
the HUGE pizza they offer but more than that, I believe products are highly qualitative. If you need petrol and food, go and have shopping
at Asda because they offer high discounts on Asda Petrol! Here in United Kingdom today's price of petrol is expensive, around
£1.20 and if you shop at Asda around £30-£50, you can get 0.10 off for each liter of fuel. I truly recommend if you want to 'win' on other
sides (At the end of the day Asda is American right? OIL!).
The shopping experience is fantastic, however in some shops it may difficult to find members of staff available. They are kind people and
offer their help. Sometimes, even if you're not looking for help they engage in conversation to make sure that you're having a nice shopping
experience.
Do not buy shampoos, deodorants, soap, condoms(£20 a pack!?!?!?!??!) or other similar stuff from Asda. These are more expensive than in other
competitors and offer the same exact product.
Morrisons
This company also operates only Super Stores (aka HUGE STORES).
The number of products available is insane. Something I don't like however is that I never find Coca-Cola (the traditional one) in the
1.5L bottles. I can only find Coca-Cola mango, Coca-Cola cherry, Pepsi but no Coca-Cola traditional. It's always sold when I look for it!
This store offers you from 'average products' such as items that you expect to find, to a range of 'unexpected' products. For example, why
not enjoying a nice Brandy Butter from Morrisons like the Queen does? (Quick tip: do not eat it as normal butter and try to look like a British person).
Do you want to change your style of drinking water? Go to Morrisons, you can find 'canned water' (just like you drink coca-cola in cans but they don't
have coca-cola so this example is invalid).
Oh, did I mention that there is a special department in Morrisons where you can create your own huge 20 inches (50cm) pizza that you can bring home and
place in oven? You can tell members of staff what to put on it, salami - tomatoes - dried tomatoes - pepperoni - etc
The experience for shopping looks of high quality. You usually don't have problems in this store.
While Morrisons also sells products that are expiring the same day (like Tesco), they don't make it obvious and you won't have to 'fight' for the
same day expiry products. That's how I got last Halloween some Toffee-apple for just £0.03 from their original £1 price.
Oh and by the way, Amazon is 'flirting' with Morrisons so my personal expectation is that it will be purchased by the huge American in the near future.
Marks and Spencer
Just look at the logo, how simple. Personally, I define Marks and Spencer as the 'Apple' of supermarkets in United Kingdom. While they also sell clothes, Marks and Spencer operates supermarkets on its ground floor. The quality of products is at its highest, the price is not very low but personally I believe it is worth it.
While every other store in United Kingdom will sell you packed sandwiches with ham & mayo or mayo & chicken, Marks and Spencer
will sell you sandwiches containing a mix of Avocado, Cheddar, Salad, Chicken, Pork, Carrot, etc. Their name are even well chosen. For example,
don't you want to have a Rainbow Egg or Super Green? Same as the sandwiches, the variety of products is very high. What I like is that you don't
simply see 'any types of products' but only those worth to be under the name of Marks and Spencer. Personally, I recommend Marks and Spencer for
people who are top middle class or already rich. Nothing wrong in this store, you get receipts, members of staff assist you and they are always
available. You don't have to check expiry dates of products so you can be relaxed.
Waitrose
This is only for the rich people. When I worked in Financial Trading in London, I can guarantee that every 'Wolf of the City' (equivalent of Wolf of Wall street
but in British/Londonish) purchased from Waitrose. Here you can expect a salt to cost as much as £6 for just few hundred grams. Did I mention that
you can buy 100grams of Jamon Iberico de Bellota for £11? It is worth because this ham melts in your mouth so it's something particular.
If you are middle class, you may still want to purchase once in a while from Waitrose, I promise you will love it. Everything is consistently
fantastic and it's a must try experience. I am not going to tell you more as I don't want to ruin the surprises.
There are others which are available but I did not include in this list because my experience has not been 'memorable' or, I didn't got so
often to these stores. The list could also include: Sainsbury's (similar to Tesco), BM European Value Retail, TKMAXX, Co-op, etc.
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