Asda has been named the UK’s cheapest online supermarket, with an average basket of shopping coming in at £18.88 cheaper than Waitrose for the same products.
Using the 42 items listed in the government’s Consumer Price Index ‘Shopping Basket’ as the benchmark, Asda has retained its title as the least expensive online option for British consumers looking to keep their grocery costs down.
The results have been determined by online price-tracking website Alertr, which constantly monitors price increases and decreases across six major UK online supermarkets, on a week-by-week basis.
The latest results found that Asda is still the reigning champion, with a total basket cost of £109.86. Tesco came in second, at £115.63 (£5.77 more expensive than Asda).
Seasonal promotions have been reflected in the price fluctuations, with both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons selling flour at £1.50 before dropping it to £1, ahead of Pancake Day. Conversely, Waitrose flour started the month at £1.55 before increasing to £1.80 by the end of the month.
Read more: Asda crowned cheapest supermarket for the Christmas shop
Asda was also the cheapest supermarket for fruit and veg as well as essentials such as bread and milk, followed closely by Tesco and Morrisons. Morrisons was the cheapest supermarket for alcohol though, followed closely by Asda, with both selling gin and vodka for around £5 less than Sainsbury’s and Ocado.
The full breakdown of each supermarket’s basket costs are as follows:
1. Asda – £109.86 (£2.86 more than last month)
2. Tesco – £115.63 (£1.18 more than last month)
3. Morrisons – £119.63 (£1.29 more than last month)
4. Sainsbury’s – £117.62 (£1.55 more than last month)
5. Ocado – £127.89 (£1.69 more than last month)
6. Waitrose – £128.74 (£4.68 more than last month)
“For the weekly shop right now, prices across the board really do vary, with a pretty stark difference between the top and bottom spots on the leader board of almost £19,” commented Alertr’s co-founder Andy Barr.
“Tesco appear to have retained second place with an almost £6 price difference between them and the leaders, Asda. Ocado and Waitrose have continued to compete with each other to not be named the most expensive of the largest supermarkets – with a marginal difference of just 75p between them this time around.”
Discount retailers Lidl and Aldi are not included as customers cannot shop full ranges online and they do not have the same like-for-like branded products for comparison.
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