The king is dead, long live the king
Aldi has deposed Waitrose as the UK’s favourite supermarket.
Consumer watchdog Which? has released its annual supermarket customer satisfaction survey, showing that after three years at the top of the foodchain Waitrose now languishes in fourth place – with Aldi reigning supreme.
Customers prefer Aldi’s special offers and high quality fresh and own-label produce. Waitrose’s spacious store layouts and helpful staff made it the victor for in-store experience, but it wasn’t enough to fight off Marks & Spencer and Lidl in second and third respectively.
Waitrose was given a two star value for money rating compared to Aldi and Lidl’s five, after 6,800 people were surveyed.
Alex Neill, managing director of Which? home products and services, said: “With food costs rising it seems as though shoppers have felt the pinch and are voting with their feet and wallets. Aldi and Lidl have won over their customers with value for money.”
Some shoppers were critical of aspects of Aldi’s store experience, describing them as “untidy” and complaining of “rushed checkouts”. But they happy to tolerate such shortcomings to save money.
“The big four supermarkets need to up their game or risk losing their customers to other supermarkets who are doing a better job of giving people what they want,” Neill said.
Sainsbury’s came last, while Iceland topped the supermarkets’ online service ranking.
