Overview
- Which?’s February price study, published Friday, found that shoppers without loyalty cards at Tesco and Sainsbury’s paid more for a basket of 245 branded items than Waitrose shoppers, with Asda the cheapest overall.
- The basket cost £942.66 at Sainsbury’s without Nectar and £916.56 at Tesco without Clubcard, compared with £899.05 at Waitrose and £823.58 at Asda.
- Member pricing cut the totals to £837.43 at Tesco with Clubcard and £848.56 at Sainsbury’s with Nectar, bringing them within a few percent of Asda.
- Which? highlighted steep item gaps created by member‑only discounts, such as a 200ml L’Oréal Elvive shampoo averaging £13 for non‑Clubcard shoppers at Tesco versus £6.50 for members.
- Which? noted some people cannot or will not join loyalty schemes because of eligibility or privacy concerns, and after the findings retailers defended their approach as Tesco said it would review Clubcard access for under‑18s before year end.