As a consumer, I have a simple strategy. Ihave worked out, over time, which type, or sometimes specific items of products are cheap in which shop. I do a weekly shop for most of my food items at Morrisons and a suplememntary shop at Asda once a week for items that I know are better value there. Beer always comes from Lidl who regularly have proper beer eg Shephard Neame or Wychwood, in bottles, at £1 per bottle. I wait for the £1 deal and stock up. Certain non-food items come from a fortnightly trip to Wilkinsons - agian specific types of item that I know are always good value there. I also refuse to be a brand snob. I regularly substitute my normal brand for whatever is a better deal. Play the advertisers at their own game and take their introductory offers but not fall into a routuine of buying that brand once the introduction is over. I will happily eat own brand cereal for example - or whichever branded version is on special offer. Same with bread.

By doing all the above and keeping my routine shopping cheap, I can afford to eat well and "splash out" every now and then on specific goods from a more expensive brand.

Originally Posted by Blokeonabike

Play the advertisers at their own game and take their introductory offers but not fall into a routuine of buying that brand once the introduction is over.

Every time I go to buy razor blades its c£15 for 12 blades, or c£15 for 17 blades and a new razor in the latest Gillette all singing/dancing introductory pack.

Yes its a mundane story, but who are the people who are buying just blades?

I definitly agree with your strategy. My personal favourite is to acquire one of the Wilkinsons "Welcome to Uni" packs in September with a 25% off voucher, and then bulk buy cleaning products.

Originally Posted by re-stilly

Tesco's was down but Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S were all up, to me this seems people are spreading the love a little bit and are getting sick of Tescos

Sainsbury`s, Waitrose and M&S are more upmarket than Tescos. It is the lower paid Tesco shopper who is taking the brunt of the austerity measures. I suspect the Aldi`s and Lidol`s picked up Tesco`s loss in trade.

Originally Posted by mercurydancer

Thats a little too cynical and simplistic. I'm not ashamed to go to B&M and compare prices to Tesco, but sometimes its logistically silly to go between one and the other. I am aware that some shops do have stuff cheaper than the big supermarkets by a huge margin. I weigh up what the supermarkets provide (like fresh food) against what the bargain shops do not provide. Like most people I do not have eidetic memory so I may well not remember that a tin of beans are cheaper in B&M than Tesco. I suspect that many people are like me, and stock up in B&M on things like bog rolls, cleaning products, cider and deodorant, then go to Tesco or Sainsbury for other things.

That's not what I meant. What I was indicating is that people have become slaves to the BIG 4 and as such have lost sight of what else is available. All that it takes is for you to go to your local High Street, and spend an hour or so wandering round shops that previously you might not have gone in. You'll soon realise that there's a whole world of retail that offers the same products, and sometimes better, for less than the Supermarkets.

Originally Posted by trowel

Sainsbury`s, Waitrose and M&S are more upmarket than Tescos. It is the lower paid Tesco shopper who is taking the brunt of the austerity measures. I suspect the Aldi`s and Lidol`s picked up Tesco`s loss in trade.

Home Bargains, B&M and the Pound shops are where the money is going.

Originally Posted by 12volts

Just to paint a different picture, I have some friends who live in Southport, Birkdale to be precise. The local shops either side of the rail station are
fantastic. Post office, a couple of butchers, a fish monger, a cheese shop, 2 wine shops, a bakers, a pub, a newsagent, male and female hairdressers, clothes shops and hardware shop to name a few.
So why does it work there, not where I live? In the small town where I live the High Street is becoming charity shop central.

'Cos Birkdale is a very posh bit of Southport, hardly the demographic for Lidl, Poundlad etc. FFS have you seen the house prices there, and don't even think about the green fees for Royal Birkdale. Rich(er) people will always pay the bit extra for quality and locality.

Originally Posted by heard_it_all_before

Supermarkets are a rip off, plan and simple. Probelm is, is that most people are thick, and idle, to work it out.

Ariel 54 wash - Home Bargains £4.99
Ariel 54 wash - Asda/ Tesco £10

Branston Beans - Home Bargains 38p
Branston Beans - Asda 86P

Mitchum Anti-persperant - Savers £1
Mitchum Anti-persperant - Asda £2.85

That's just one three recent items so imagine what that might be on a trolley full of stuff. Also and as you well know, supermarkets change their prices on a near weekly basis which just fucks with peoples already half-empty brains as they're conditioned to not expect their shopping to be the same amount every week.

Hey Ho. People will always follow the route of least resistance, which in most cases is the one that requires the least amount of effort…!

I worked in Asda's many moons ago, and every week the junior management were tasked with checking Asda's competetiveness on a list of 20/30 or so items on what was known as the Known Product Items, these were top selling items that the shopping public were presumed to know the prices of, Heinz beans, Kellogs corn flakes, Mcvities digestive biscuits, Nescafe etc. Woe betide the store if any competetitor had a lower price on them, which was virtually impossible as the margins on these were so small and were heavily advertised by the makers. Other competetive products were where the profits were made as the customer rarely knew the prices in other supermarkets!

The large HMV store over in Bangor is closing down on Saturday,I suppose the rise of on-line downloads for music & games as well as them being undercut by the supermarkets has hit them,funnily enough,the second hand games shop up High Street is booming..

Spike - another example of you will succeeed if you offer a product/service that the public want. People like the service offered by the used games store. Where I live there are 3, different chains but all providing similar second hand games. All three are always busy.

Originally Posted by Blokeonabike

I believe the TESCOs senior management have accepted that they messed up their Christmas "campaign". What it really shows is how easy it is to get complacent and fall off the top perch. That M&S et al actually did better simply shows that, at this moment in time, their products/pricing and marketing strategies are more effective.

I doubt it but could the 'health education' programme be working? ie a huge number of people finally realising that smaller portions of decent quality food are better for you than what you get by running around a superstore cackling greedily about how many fucking frozen processed beefburgers you can get for £1? and how many Vienettas you get if you buy two pizzas?
As I say I doubt it but I live in hope.


Mind you mmm Vienetta eh? Not had one in ages.