Tesco fans will know that there are several different types of store which the supermarket operates.
From Tesco Extra, Tesco Superstore, Tesco Metro, and Tesco Express there's a whole range of stores from little to large.
The main differences are the size of each store and the range of products on offer - but thrifty shoppers will have also noticed there is a subtle difference in prices, with Express stores in particular being on the more expensive side.
Read more: Tesco v Aldi - I did my weekly shop at both supermarkets and one was much cheaper
In May, the supermarket giant announced a major overhaul of its stores across the UK, with 147 Metro stores turned into either Express or Superstores .
The long-standing Tesco Metro in Canton, Cardiff, fell victim to this extensive revamp and was rebranded seemingly overnight as an Express store.
With its shiny new sign having been installed on June 14, local residents and loyal customers of the Canton store took to social media to express their concerns about the change, especially in terms of the anticipated price hikes.
Their concerns are not unfounded. Research by Which? in February revealed that shoppers at supermarket convenience stores - like ‘express’ branches - spend £320 more a year on groceries.
Dennis Hill, 66, who has been shopping in the branch in Canton for 45 years, said of the change: "The majority of shoppers there are old age people like me, or single people, or people on low incomes. Everybody's been suffering through this pandemic, everybody's short of money and they go and jack the prices up.
"It's very frustrating for me. I've got to get a bus now to go to Lidl. I spend up to £20 a week there, so they'll lose £1000 roughly from me if I don't go there again."
But will a shop in Tesco Express really set you back considerably more than shop in a Metro, Superstore or Extra? We bought the exact same list of items at Tesco Extra on Western Avenue in Cardiff and the new Tesco Express in Canton to find out.
For both shops, I stuck to Tesco own-brand products to keep the comparison as fair as possible. I did a typical weekly shop, with 30 items in total.
As expected, the Tesco Express was considerably smaller in size than Tesco Extra. I was worried I would not be able to find all the items in the Express store but was pleasantly surprised that there was still a big selection of products on offer.
Both stores implemented good Covid-safe measures, such as a traffic light system at the entrance to control the number of shoppers inside, sanitizing stations for hands and trolleys, social distancing signs on the floor and plastic screens at the tills.
Then it was time to compare prices. As I meandered around both shops, the difference in prices felt like merely a couple of pence here and there - but with a £3.29 difference on the receipts at the end the pennies definitely added up.
Where there were differences, Tesco Express was always the culprit for the more expensive item.
Very noticeable differences in prices included a 260g packet of two salmon fillets (£3.25 in Tesco Extra compared to £3.85 in Tesco Express) and a nine-pack of toilet paper (£3.75 in Express vs a much cheaper £3 in Extra).
Some small differences that ultimately still widened the gap between the final totals included a whole mango (85p in Express, up from 74p in Extra), a head of broccoli (46p compared to 55p), a 500g packet of fusilli pasta (53p in Extra, 60p in Express), a medium bottle of semi-skimmed milk (80p compared to 85p) and a box of 80 tea bags (£1.10 vs £1.25).
Admittedly, a few items did have the same price - for example, a bag of Tesco's Finest Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar crisps (£1), a packet of digestives (50p) and a six-pack of Pink Lady apples (£2.80).
All in all, I spent £43.99 in Tesco Extra and £47.28 in Tesco Express for the exact same items.
Based on my own shopping list, if you did your weekly shop at Tesco Express rather than Tesco Extra, the seemingly small £3.29 difference would set you back £171.08 over the course of a year - less than what the research by Which? concluded, but still a significant amount.
For any thrifty shoppers on a budget, it’s surely a no-brainer to stick to the bigger versions of Tesco, rather than their convenience store counterparts.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “Over the last few years, we have seen our customers’ shopping habits change and we have taken the decision to re-brand all of our Metro stores to better reflect this. Our Metro format was originally designed for larger, weekly shops, but today nearly 70% of customers use them as convenience stores, buying food for that day.
“To ensure our offer continues to serve the needs of our customers, 89 of our Metro stores will re-brand as Tesco Express, including the store in Canton, Cardiff. The remaining 58 Metro stores will have their Metro signage removed and be referred to as Tesco Superstores.”
