Sainsbury's shoppers with Nectar cards issued warning over £624 cost

Sainsbury's shoppers who hold a Nectar card has been issued a warning - as a study showed they could be paying £615 more a year compared with a budget supermarket.

A study from consumer group Which? found that shoppers who subscribe to the Nectar loyalty card scheme, which offers cheaper prices on some items, are still paying more for some items than if they shopped at Aldi, which was found to be the cheapest UK supermarket of 2024 in the same study.

The study compared the cost of groceries at the UK's biggest supermarkets every day throughout 2024 to determine how each chain compared in price. 

In order to assess how supermarkets compared in terms of price, the consumer watchdog analysed the cost of up to 200 branded and own-brand products every day over the course of a month - from Heinz beans to own-label milk.

The average costs were tallied up to reach a grand total for each retailer - which included special offers and loyalty prices where applicable. 

The group found Aldi was the cheapest supermarket across all twelve months, making it the most affordable supermarket of 2024. 

Lidl came in at a close second, charging just £1.99 more than Aldi on average each month.

Meanwhile, analysis found Waitrose to be the most expensive supermarket for shopping across all months in 2024. 

On its website, Which? said: 'Waitrose was the most expensive for our bigger shop every month except September, when Sainsbury's was priciest (for shoppers not using a Nectar card).'

The study found that Aldi was consistently the cheapest supermarket of 2024, charging £100.29 on average for a shopping trolley which contained a mix of 56 branded and non-branded goods.

In comparison, Sainsbury's shoppers who hold a Nectar card still pay more than Aldi customers, with the shopping trolley average at £112.13 (while non-Nectar card holding trolleys coming in at £116) .

This means that, in total, shoppers who enjoy loyalty prices at Sainsbury's with a Nectar card are still paying approximately £624 more than Aldi shoppers on average in a year.

At £129.83 - nearly £30 more than Aldi - Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket.

Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: 'Our research shows Aldi has retained its crown as the UK’s cheapest supermarket in 2024. 

'After the added expense of the festive period, many households will be looking to cut costs. Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets, shoppers can make significant savings, highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible.'

It comes as analysis by Kantar revealed Tesco, Sainsbury's, Lidl and Aldi were the major winners in Britain's Christmas supermarket wars as they all posted big sales growth.

Britain's biggest grocer Tesco had a 5.0 per cent increase in sales over the 12 weeks to December 29 with its 0.8 percentage point share gain the biggest of any supermarket, according to the market research group.

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Growth from its convenience, superstore and online channels helped its market share rise to 28.5 per cent - its highest since January 2016.

Sainsbury's achieved its highest market share since December 2019 at 16 per cent thanks to sales growth of 3.5 per cent, above the average rise for supermarkets.

Discounters Lidl and Aldi continued their assault on the 'Big Four' as they saw their highest ever Christmas market shares at 7.3 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Lidl had the fastest footfall growth of any grocer as spending rose by 6.6 per cent, while Aldi's sales were up 2.9 per cent as it attracted an extra 315,000 customers.

But the biggest loser was Asda which now has a 12.5 per cent share after sales fell 5.8 per cent. Co-op also saw sales fall 0.2 per cent and now has a 5.3 per cent share.