MP MATT Western has branded the price difference between supermarket out-off-town stores and their high street equivalents as a “mickey take” for customers.
The MP for Warwick and Leamington conducts what he calls a ‘price comparison exercise’ once a year where he compares a basket of shopping from a smaller express store to the same basket of goods at the superstore of the same brand.
This year, Mr Western has conducted the exercise at both Sainsburys and Tesco and found significant differences in the pricing of goods at the small high street stores versus the out-of-town superstores.
The basket of goods purchased by the MP, which he then donated to two local foodbanks, was comprised of essential items such as butter, bread, cereal, pasta and fruit.
In the Tesco Superstore on the Emscote Road in Warwick, the basket of goods cost £33.04. In Tesco Express on the Parade in Leamington, the same basket of 17 goods cost £39.11, 18 per cent more expensive.
In the shop at the superstore, a Clubcard was also used but this only shaved £3.10 off the basket, meaning even without a Clubcard, the shop at the express store would still have been eight per cent more expensive than the superstore.
For the first time, the Mr Western also conducted the exercise at Sainsbury’s, purchasing a basket of 16 items, similar to those purchased at Tesco. In the Sainsbury’s superstore at the Leamington Shopping Park, the basket cost £33.38. The same basket of goods purchased at the Sainsbury’s Local store on Radford Road in Leamington cost £36.14, eight per cent more expensive.
A nectar card was used on the superstore basket of goods, but this saved only 85p and means the basket of goods purchased at the smaller Sainsbury’s Local store was still 5.6 per cent more expensive than the same basket at the superstore.
Mr Western said: “The point of this exercise is to understand what the price differences are between two stores of the same brand. It may seem not a huge difference to some but if you are left with no option but to use the smaller stores, these differences really add up.
“Some may be unable to get to a superstore as they don’t drive, are disabled or are too limited on time to make it work and as a result they end up paying higher prices. That doesn’t seem fair to me.”
The MP raised the issue earlier this year in Parliament during a Business and Trade Select Committee. Mr Western is vice-chair of the committee, and when representatives from Tesco and Sainsbury’s were giving evidence to the committee in June, the local MP asked why they couldn’t align product prices between their out-of-town and in-town stores.
The representative from Sainsbury’s responded that there are different operating costs for convenience stores and supermarkets.
