So the European invasion is here! The discounters snapping at the heals of the traditional supermarkets. Years ago Lidl, Aldi and dare i say it, Netto were the stomping ground of paupers, the car park full of generic family cars that have seen better days. There was no chance of a basket for your shop and I used to take a box and walk around filling it with unknown brands only to be mistaken for an employee. No I do not work here!
Now days Aldi and Lidl are cornering all sides of the market the "Asda" shopper and now the up market "Waitrose shopper". In fact you will now see BMW and Bentleys in the car park and posh folk inside loudly declaring "I don't normally shop here!"
Personally I am a "stop at waitrose for my free coffee before doing the shop at Aldi' kind of guy.
The rise of the discounters is bad news if you are a rival shop owner but for us consumers this is really driving prices down.
Now I'm not sure if you have been to Aldi or Lidl? Aldi seems to be expanding with new stores popping up around my area in Surrey. The latest is that my home town of Woking is soon to get a Aldi. well exciting news that is, especially for my mum who refers to these shops as "The promised land". She loves the range especially at Christmas time with all the German produce available. And it's so easy to think your buying branded goods when you are in fact buying own brand a wonder around looking at the packaging it's so similar to the more familiar brands. So similar in fact I wonder how they get away with it. Kellogs crave or Aldi Craze? The Aldi version of this cereal is cheaper and the taste is comparable too.
I was in Lidl earlier and got 4 cans of own brand cider for £1.49 which is half what Sainsburys charge for their own brand, and around 75 percent less than the leading brand. This cider aculy tastes pretty good too. I must apologise to my brother at this point after one of the cans exploded in the boot of his car! opps!
So the discounters normaly come out a few pence cheaper per item compared to other shops and they do have good deals too. Some random products like wet suits and power tools can e popped into your trolley amongst the eggs and milk if you wish. I do wonder if they sell wet suits to protect the customers from leaky milk bottles?
Each Thursday Aldi have their Super six meat and veg offers which offer good savings. Also you can get coupons in the Daily Mirror once a month for more Aldi discounts.
Lidl has weekend specials like half price fish cakes for 65p (my freezer is now stocked up).
The downside to both these stores though is customer service. Yes, I agree it has become more of a pleasent experience to shop in Aldi and Lidl, but you must be prepared to que. This is anonoying if you want one item and find your self stuck behind somebody doing a massive shop. When you do get served you can expect the cashier to send your stuff flying through and building up in the virtually non existent baging area before asking for your cash before you have packed. Another drawback is they don't do express or basket tills or have a customer service desk for when things go wrong.
I like these discounters but I am also happy with the deals at other supermarkets where you may get a slightly higher level of customer service. I think these days it pays to shop about and cherry pick the offers as they arise and stock up when you see a bargain.
Now days Aldi and Lidl are cornering all sides of the market the "Asda" shopper and now the up market "Waitrose shopper". In fact you will now see BMW and Bentleys in the car park and posh folk inside loudly declaring "I don't normally shop here!"
Personally I am a "stop at waitrose for my free coffee before doing the shop at Aldi' kind of guy.
The rise of the discounters is bad news if you are a rival shop owner but for us consumers this is really driving prices down.
Now I'm not sure if you have been to Aldi or Lidl? Aldi seems to be expanding with new stores popping up around my area in Surrey. The latest is that my home town of Woking is soon to get a Aldi. well exciting news that is, especially for my mum who refers to these shops as "The promised land". She loves the range especially at Christmas time with all the German produce available. And it's so easy to think your buying branded goods when you are in fact buying own brand a wonder around looking at the packaging it's so similar to the more familiar brands. So similar in fact I wonder how they get away with it. Kellogs crave or Aldi Craze? The Aldi version of this cereal is cheaper and the taste is comparable too.
I was in Lidl earlier and got 4 cans of own brand cider for £1.49 which is half what Sainsburys charge for their own brand, and around 75 percent less than the leading brand. This cider aculy tastes pretty good too. I must apologise to my brother at this point after one of the cans exploded in the boot of his car! opps!
So the discounters normaly come out a few pence cheaper per item compared to other shops and they do have good deals too. Some random products like wet suits and power tools can e popped into your trolley amongst the eggs and milk if you wish. I do wonder if they sell wet suits to protect the customers from leaky milk bottles?
Each Thursday Aldi have their Super six meat and veg offers which offer good savings. Also you can get coupons in the Daily Mirror once a month for more Aldi discounts.
Lidl has weekend specials like half price fish cakes for 65p (my freezer is now stocked up).
The downside to both these stores though is customer service. Yes, I agree it has become more of a pleasent experience to shop in Aldi and Lidl, but you must be prepared to que. This is anonoying if you want one item and find your self stuck behind somebody doing a massive shop. When you do get served you can expect the cashier to send your stuff flying through and building up in the virtually non existent baging area before asking for your cash before you have packed. Another drawback is they don't do express or basket tills or have a customer service desk for when things go wrong.
I like these discounters but I am also happy with the deals at other supermarkets where you may get a slightly higher level of customer service. I think these days it pays to shop about and cherry pick the offers as they arise and stock up when you see a bargain.