The cheapest supermarket to shop at during August 2020 has been revealed.

An online price tracking website, which monitors the price increases and decreases across seven major UK supermarkets have published the latest data for last month.

The results have been determined by carefully tracking how each online retailer prices the 43 items outlined in the Government’s Consumer Price Index ‘shopping basket’ on a week-by-week basis.

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What did the price tracking website find out from the supermarkets during August 2020?

Iceland was in fact the cheapest online grocery retailer for the first week of August, but the fact that no prices of products were changed during the rest of the month meant that ASDA was able to retain its crown for the remaining three weeks.

On the other side of the spectrum, Tesco was crowned the most expensive supermarket to shop for the first three weeks of August, with Ocado proving the priciest online grocery retailer for the last week of August, with a total basket spend of £151.32.

On the Morrisons website, a 70cl bottle of Gordon’s gin and a 70cl bottle of Smirnoff vodka 70cl were both priced at £13 in week one, yet by week two the price of each had increased by £3, essentially making it the most expensive of all 7 retailers for the remainder of the month.

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What have researchers found?

Andy Barr, co-founder of www.alertr.co.uk, said: “Despite the average cost of ASDA’s basket being more than last months, it has still managed to retain its title as the cheapest supermarket.

"It is interesting to see however, that Tesco has now become more expensive to shop with than Ocado and Waitrose with regards to the governments ‘shopping list’, which arguably offer more ‘high-end’ and luxury products and services.

"These findings just go to show that people should assume where is the most expensive based on the name, but shopping around and finding the best deals for your items is the best way to determine savings across stores.”

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Who are Alertr?

Online price tracking website Alertr (www.alertr.co.uk) has been tracking the prices of 43 everyday items from the shopping basket on the Office for National Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2019.

Included within the list are items such as eggs, milk and bread, as well as non-perishables like pasta, rice and cereal.

Own-brand items (or their equivalent) were monitored in the research to give the most unbiased comparison of goods and their prices, with the exception of brands that all seven supermarkets stocked (e.g. Coca-Cola).

Why aren't Aldi and Lidl included?

The prices across seven of the largest supermarkets are analysed, with discount retailers Lidl and Aldi not included due to the inability for customers to shop full ranges online.

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The full breakdown of supermarkets average basket costs from lowest to highest over the four-week period in August were as follows:

  1. ASDA - £130.16
  2. Iceland - £134.49
  3. Waitrose - £138.86
  4. Sainsburys - £139.51
  5. Morrisons - £145.74
  6. Ocado - £147.93
  7. Tesco - £148.98

What item had the most price fluctuations in August?

According to Alertr, coffee seemed to have the most price fluctuations at ASDA as in week one, the ‘Kenco Millicano Americano Instant Coffee’ was at its highest price of £6.99, by week two it had been reduced to £5.50 and by week four it cost just £4.00, with a saving of nearly £3 overall.