What's wrong with being a Sainbury's Shopper?

I find that advert about Sainsbury's very annoying! Trying to suggest you need to be made of money to shop there. It's absolutely nothing special at all.
Booths, on the other hand.....

I’ve never heard that about Sainsbury’s.

I haven’t shopped in there since our local one was fined £19K for rat droppings in the shop. The company was also fine £1M for a health and security breach at the same branch, causing a serious injury to a disabled shopper during lockdown.

I shop in Aldi for washing powder and dishwasher stuff, Lidl for coffee pods and Waitrose for everything else.

Hmm no-one has mentioned Tesco....

I have heard it said.

And thinking about it, the two "poshest" people I know, shop there.
Though I hadnt put two and two together about them.

I really don't know . A middle ranking supermarket I would have thought, certainly not the Waitrose experience. I do quite a bit of shopping in Sainsbury's but we have a brand new Aldi in town so I've been lured there of late, it undercuts Sainsbury' on quite a few of the lines I previously bought in Sainsbury's, Aldi has been an excellent addition, next door to John Lewis and Waitrose too, where I also shop for a few items. I shop between those 3 and M&S. I wouldn't deride anyone's choice of supermarket, horses for courses. I like the fact that I have 4 good food retailers where I live that gives us consumers plenty of choice.

Like others, I’ve only heard that said about Waitrose. I would say Sainsburys is middle range, price wise. We have a weekly delivery from Sainsburys and are pretty satisfied with that. There’s a Waitrose nearby which is very nice to shop in - the staff are very pleasant and helpful - but it’s a bit pricey!

Sainsbury’s is right below us and Aldi too, two floors down in the lift. It would be daft to go further afield on a regular basis!

I am a country dweller. I go food shopping once a week and use a medium sized Waitrose in a town centre with lots of other shops and services, so that I can do everything from go to the dentist to have my hair done at the same time.

Visiting any other supermarket, would mean driving around the area from town to town and shop to shop, plus a town centre visit for other things and the car costs, not to mention time wasted, would far outweigh any possible savings in money by using a cheaper supermarket.

How much you 'save' (or not) by using one supermarket rather than another, depends on what food you buy and eat. These supermarket comparisons are based on notional baskets of food and you could go to the cheapest supermarket and spend more than at the most expensive, if you are buying things not in the standard comparison basket.

Supermarkets deliberately keep items in 'the standard food comparison basket' cheap, in order to do well in these comparisons, often choosing to loss lead with these products, but then choose to load the prices of items not in the basket. Prices will also vary from shop to shop in the same chain, depending on the area the shop is in.

I suspect that Waitrose are quite deliberate in their pricing to make sure their basket is fractionally more expensive. Doing this helps support their positioning of themselves as an upmarket supermarket, that people will shop in for the vicarious feeling of luxury living for very little extra cost. very good for business.

This was how the square looked when we bought 16 years ago. Since then there’s Iceland (where the white boarding is) with Home Bargains, Thornton’s and Greggs!
Perfect for #lazygran

We have a large and a small Sainsbury’s in our riverside town where I shop. Our small Waitrose was changed into a Lidl so we go to the next town once a month to Waitrose. We also have a M and S Food store which I also use weekly. When we visit our son who lives in a village near Brighton I use his Co-Op and really like it. We are lucky to have such a choice.

Our nearest Waitrose is 25 miles away so shopping there is out of the question - and I don't like shopping online! Our nearest supermarket is Asda which we never use by the way as access is horrendous.
Main food shopping is done at Tesco although we use an independent butcher for meat and have fresh fish delivered every week - which means our meat and fish ARE fish and not been frozen, repackaged, and moved around the world before we purchase it.

I ve never been in a Waitrose and think only once in Sainsbury’s (on holiday years ago ) neither in my town
I consider them both upmarket supermarkets but would never sneer at anyone for going there, good luck to them, M and S is too expensive for me
My nearest are Aldi a short bus ride away and Asda a 15 minute walk so they are my go to supermarkets I think both are not as cheap as believed I must say Asda label stuff is pretty rank but otherwise I m happy enough with them
I prefer Lldl to Aldi but it’s a more convoluting bus ride away, 2 buses one only every hour so although I live in a town all the blxxxy shops are now out on blxxxy ‘out of town’ malls no good if you haven’t got a car

Sainsbury's used to be considered a somewhat upmarket, or at least middle class choice of supermarket. You could buy fancy cheeses there like Camembert and Port Salut for example and things like avocados back in the 70's, whereas you couldn't in supermarkets like Finefare (was that just Bristol?) and Tesco. There was far less choice back then. I guess the reputation stuck.

My nearest are Aldi a short bus ride away and Asda a 15 minute walk so they are my go to supermarkets I think both are not as cheap as believed I must say Asda label stuff is pretty rank but otherwise I m happy enough with them

Asda is just too huge, I can't cope with it. As well as having all self-service tills.

I think that Waitrose is not as expensive as some might think if you're a canny shopper.
Our Waitrose had a café too but just lately has only served coffee and cake because they can't find kitchen staff.

However, Lidl seems to have the best fruit and veg imo.

Why is GN so obsessed by class.

It had never ever occurred to me that supermarkets had any particular class.

Waitrose deliberately places itself as a premium supermarket, Aldi and Lidl trade on a low price, pile it high and sell it cheap basis and then there are the rest.

As I have said I shop in Waitrose because it is a town centre supermarket and not too big. In the past in different circumstances I have shopped in Sainsburies, Asda, Tesco, International Stores, Gateway, Summerfield. what 'class' these shops are has never occurred to me.

Yes I have had the comment made to me as I get an online delivery from Waitrose every 2 weeks, I like Waitrose, the fresh products last longer with always good sell by dates.
We top up at M&S or Lidl, tbh I don't find the prices at Waitrose that bad.

Sainsburys, I spend too much on other products and not food. At least with Waitrose it's just food.

I also have a Costco card so I buy bulky products there, they are always much cheaper we just store them in the Garage.

We have a decent sized Sainsburys not far from us and their prices are very little different to Asda or Morrisons. We started getting deliveries from them as they emailed us when the pandemic started to tell us we were classed as vulnerable (my DH was retired on ill health). So we were put on the priority list for delivery. Have used them ever since. Tried Lidl but couldn't get everything I wanted and wasn't keen on the stuff they sold. Asda and Tesco too far

I think you just haven’t heard it Monica there has always been a hierarchy in supermarkets with presumable ‘poorer people’ using the cheaper priced Aldi, Lldl and Asda while the better off use Sainsbury, Waitrose and M&S
Certainly known if not directly spoken of

Waitrose is my nearest supermarket by miles, so that’s where I shop.

I’d probably shop at Sainsbury’s if there was one nearer me, but 20miles is too far to go.

I don’t think there are huge price differences between the major supermarkets.

I'm not sure I'd term Aldi as "pile it high" I've only been shopping there since fairly recently, my observation is that sometimes certain stocks run low. My understanding is that Aldi and Lidl undercut because compared to the mighty Tesco and the other major supermarkets, who carry a staggering amount of lines, they don't, I'm aware that there is a far more limited variety in Aldi than say Sainsburys, the upside of that I can navigate myself around that store far quicker, fewer browsing isles.

I live in greater London, I an in Easy access to Morrisons, a small Waitrose, same distance the other way is Asda, Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer. I also have a Sainsburys Superstore a short car journey. I have a good pick to shop from but prefer the Superstore for variety.
I don't understand shopping snobbery or people's need to comment, its so rude. Little do those people know, not their business, that I also buy yellow sticker food, and Bogof. I bought five things on my last shop probably saved £5, not alot but it adds up.
Shop where you like and do whst suits you.

I think most people (without cars anyway) shop at their nearest store my nearest Sainsbury’s is 10 miles away and no way would I bother with going to that I don’t even know where my nearest Waitrose would be probably at the nearest city 30 miles away 🤣M & S is in town but that one is expensive unless you are just buying an odd item

BlueBelle

I think most people (without cars anyway) shop at their nearest store my nearest Sainsbury’s is 10 miles away and no way would I bother with going to that I don’t even know where my nearest Waitrose would be probably at the nearest city 30 miles away 🤣M & S is in town but that one is expensive unless you are just buying an odd item

Like you I have always shopped in the nearest convenient supermarket. In our first home it was Sainsbury's and International, we moved and it was Gateway, we moved and it was Sainsbury's again, another move made Sainsbury's and Asda my most convenient supermarkets, then a job change made Waitrose more convenient. We moved to our current home and Waitrose was the nearest shop.

We are on the move again. In our new location Waitrose, Lidl, M&S Food and Iceland all huddle together for comfort in the town centre. I am sure I will soon work out which shop is best for what and share my trade among them.

I will not be checking any of them out on any social status measuring site.

Affluent incomers round here all seem to think Waitrose is the only supermarket to be seen delivering to their mansions. I stick with Tesco home delivery and a monthly expensive binge in M&S. Lidl is great for fresh fruit and veg.

I spent many years having to watch every penny but now I can splash out a bit so I enjoy shopping in Waitrose (2 miles away) which I think is really good value - especially their yellow sticker "Too good to waste" offers - and I love M&S too, there's a food store less than a mile from home. They have a deli offer of 3 items for £10, and I use that to stock up on their excellent quiches and cooked chicken. I use Tesco for home delivery of heavy stuff like wine (!) and boring stuff like laundry bits, dishwasher tablets etc.

And as for the ridiculous rich-v-poor divide, a friend of mine who is very well off always uses Lidl. It's her choice, it wouldn't be mine.