New research has found that grocery giant Asda has retained its title as the UK's cheapest supermarket for online orders, despite rising prices since last month.
Online price-tracking website Alertr.co.uk compared the prices on a basket of 42 basic everyday items, including milk, bread and eggs, as part of its monthly comparison of the six major supermarkets. The 'Big Four' supermarket chain was found to still be offering the cheapest shopping basket with a total that was nearly £15 cheaper than the most expensive option.
Alertr has been monitoring the prices across Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado in a bid to help shoppers amidst the soaring cost of living. The latest comparison has found that Asda is still the reigning champion amidst rising inflation rates with a basket total that came to £120.46.
The online price tracking website's regular monthly comparisons has found Asda to be consistently named as the most affordable option for online shoppers during rising food prices.
Sainsbury's was found to be the second cheapest online supermarket with a total costing £125.88, with Tesco in third place with a basket total that would cost shoppers £126.93.
Interestingly, for the first time, Waitrose has managed to move up the chain and replace Morrisons as the fourth most affordable option, with a total that came to £133.85 - almost £6 cheaper compared to its last month's total.
Morrisons slid down to fifth place with a total of £134.18, almost £10 more expensive than last month, while Ocado ended Waitrose's three-month long reign as the most expensive supermarket with a total of £134.81.
The price comparison from Alertr did find that that vast majority of the supermarkets had seen an increase in their overall total compared to last months findings, with the exception of Sainsbury's and Waitrose which actually saw a decrease.
Food prices across the board also fluctuated, as the cost of vodka increased £16 to £17 in the last two weeks of September. Similarly, a pack of four beers at Asda cost just £4.50 during the first week of September and then went up to £5 for the final week. Prices on milk, cheese and eggs also increased at all supermarkets during September, which was in line with food inflation levels soaring to a 14-year high.
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 £15, but this has decreased significantly from last month by almost £8.
"Throughout the year so far, we’ve typically seen much less disparity across the rest of the board, especially between those supermarkets placing second, third and fourth on a regular basis. However, this hasn’t been the case for September, with an increased price difference of £6.92 between bronze medallists, Tesco, and Waitrose in fourth place; showing a clear division between the top and bottom halves of the leader board this time round.
"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 will rotate again as Morrisons plummeted to fifth place and Ocado became the most expensive brand to shop with in September.
"With inflation nearing a 40-year high, currently sitting at 9.9% and forecast to peak at around 13% by the end of this year, we’ll likely see these increasing costs eat into household budgets even more, and subsequently impact consumer habits. On top of this, if the rate of inflation rises again as suspected, the price of supermarket products, including staples such as milk, bread and eggs, will continue to grow and so will the cost of an average weekly shop."
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