Asda was the cheapest online supermarket in the UK last month according to research, with a trolley of essential items costing more than £7 less than its nearest rival, Tesco.
Research by price-tracking website Alertr looked at the cost of 42 items in supermarket chains' online stores in August. The items were chosen as they feature in the Government-based Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ of products it price monitors to calculate inflation. It includes items like eggs, milk, bread, pasta, rice and cereal.
Alertr did not include Aldi or Lidl "due to the inability for customers to shop full ranges online and not having the same like-for-like branded products that other supermarkets stock".
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The Asda shop was cheapest in August, at £117.85 - a 51p increase on the previous month. Next came Tesco, at £125.18. The shop with Morrisons cost £125.52, compared to £127.60 at Sainsbury's, £130.62 with Ocado and £139.64 at Waitrose.
The cheapest and most expensive online supermarkets in August 2022
- 1. ASDA – £117.85 (+51p compared to last month’s findings)
- 2. Tesco – £125.18 (+£1.26)
- 3. Morrisons – £125.52 (+£2.12)
- 4. Sainsbury’s – £127.60 (+£2.70)
- 5. Ocado – £130.62 (-£5.37)
- 6. Waitrose – £139.64 (+£2.51)
Andy Barr, co-founder of www.alertr.co.uk, said: “For the weekly shop, as it currently stands, there’s still a stark difference between the top and bottom spots on the leader board of almost £22, which has increased incrementally from last month. Throughout the year so far, we’ve seen much less disparity across the rest of the board, especially between those supermarkets placing second, third and fourth on a regular basis – Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsburys.
"However, this hasn’t been the case for August, with an increased price difference of £1.78 between Tesco and Morrisons, and an even greater price difference of £4.20 between Morrisons and Sainsbury’s this time round, which shows that the top four supermarkets aren’t competing as closely as they were before.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the battle of the supermarkets will play out over the next few months – whether Asda will continue to reign supreme and if the other spots on the leader board start to compete more closely again. With the cost-of-living crisis squeezing household incomes more than ever, especially as we head into autumn and winter, who knows if this will impact consumer habits.
"On top of this, the October price cap increase will inevitably cause many families to look harder at their expenses each month, so it’ll certainly be telling how supermarkets react to this and if product prices increase in line with suspected further inflation rate rises.”
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