New cheapest online food shop revealed – and it’s not Aldi or Tesco

Amazon Fresh continues to be one of the cheapest options for groceries in the UK, with a weekly shop costing far less than it would at rival supermarkets.

Analysis of 33 items from several supermarkets in Britain found that purchasing groceries from the online giant was 11 per cent cheaper than any other retailer.

A basket of weekly goods would have cost shoppers £71.52 this week, which is 16.9 per cent less than it would have cost a year ago, The Grocer magazine revealed.

The online giant matched the lowest prices for 25 of the items, with exclusively lower prices on sugar snap peas and Sacla’ pesto.

Ocado came in second at £81.02, as promotions at the online supermarket meant the price of a basket was down 8.4 per cent from a month ago and 2.3 per cent year on year.

The most expensive supermarket was Waitrose, where a weekly shop costs £98.69.

A basket at Asda cost £81.86 by matching the lowest prices on 16 items, and was slightly cheaper than a £82.06 basket at Sainsbury’s.

Tesco, which had the cheapest coffee and Cathedral City cheddar, was in fifth place at £84.34. Morrisons was found to have had the highest annual inflation of 8.9 per cent, with a basket costing £87.72.

Supermarket inflation rose slightly once again this week, as figures from Worldpanel by Numerator show shelf prices are 2.5 per cent higher than last year, up from 2.3 per cent previously recorded.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “With the autumn Budget fast approaching, the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on the minds of shoppers. And the cost of filling up a car is only adding to the pressure on household budgets.”

He added: “Until the chancellor sets out his plans, we expect that caution to carry on showing up at the till, with shoppers leaning more heavily on promotions to keep their grocery spend under control.”

Lidl held 8.6 per cent of the UK’s grocer market share on the back of a 7.1 per cent increase in sales driven by fruit, vegetables and wine.

Sales at online specialist Ocado increased by 12.4 per cent, while spending was 1 per cent higher at Tesco and 1.3 per cent higher at Sainsbury’s, with the two retailers holding 27.8 per cent and 15.2 per cent of the market respectively.

Asda’s market share dropped to 11.5 per cent, while Aldi now holds 10.5 per cent of the market.