Shoppers will be delighted to discover there’s a simple trick to keep costs down on the supermarket shop, and it’s one most people don’t seem to know about. The key to finding the lowest prices that most customers seem to be missing is heading to the bottom shelf.
The news has been previously highlighted by food budget expert Lorna Cooper, who said that often, shoppers are too focused on what’s displayed at eye level, or part of a promotion, that they fail to find the cheapest products low down.
She told followers of her Facebook page ‘Feed your family for about £20 a week’ that they key to finding lower priced items in the supermarket is to make sure you’re looking in the right places.
To test out the theory Emma Gill, a reporter at our sister paper the Manchester Evening News decided to test the ‘down low’ rule for a big shop at Tesco to see just how much she could save compared with big brand products at eye level. Here’s what she found below.
I was surprised by just how many shelves were laid out in this way and for a lot of people, especially those in a rush or shopping with children and getting distracted, it would be easy to miss the cheaper items.
There’s obviously a quality difference between some of the products – and not everyone is as happy to buy the own brand or budget goods – but with the cost of living crisis still hitting hard, a lot of shoppers are having to make different choices, or are at least willing to give cheaper products a try.
Some of the price differences are staggering. For instance, a 1kg pack of Tesco’s long grain rice is priced at £1.25, while its more affordable Grower’s Harvest brand is just 52p for the same size pack.
A litre of Tesco orange or apple juice from the shelf is £1.25, whereas the Grower’s Harvest brand, located on the bottom shelf, is 85p.
The big brand curry sauces cost over £2, or £1.50 with the Clubcard offer that is prominently displayed at eye level, yet its cheaper alternatives are on the bottom shelf for just 99p – and they’re really tasty too.
The same pattern was observed with the soup, with Heinz tins costing £2 each, or 3 for £4, but Tesco’s own brand, on the bottom shelf, costing £1.10.
While the ‘low shelf, low price’ rule seemed to apply mostly to tins and cupboard items, it was also the case in some of the fridges too.
A pack of eight Richmond sausages for £2.60 at eye level, with the Tesco £1.79 version lower down; mature cheddar for £3 for 400g, with the cheaper £2.49 Creamfields blocks on the bottom shelf; and its cheaper Willow Farms chicken breasts, £6.49 a kg and price matched to Aldi, on the bottom shelf too.
However, it’s still worth keeping an eye out elsewhere though, as the top shelf had a Clubcard offer on chicken breasts, working out even cheaper, at £5.79 a kg.
While the selection of bread varied, applying the ‘lower shelf’ strategy worked wonders with other ‘bakery’ items at Tesco. The supermarket’s own eight-pack of tortilla wraps was on offer for a tempting £1.20, far less than the branded Mission Deli six-pack at £1.60.
Similarly, Tesco’s own-brand eight-pack of chocolate brioche rolls enticed shoppers from the bottom shelf at £1.60, compared with Pitch’s six-pack priced at £1.75.
Egg prices also displayed standout value, with the bargain 15-pack of mixed weight eggs at £1.99 flying off the shelves the entire bottom row was snapped up by cost-conscious consumers.
In the frozen section, it pays to compare. While McCain Skin on Fries might catch your eye with a Clubcard price of £3 for an 800g bag, Tesco offers a better deal next door with a larger 900g bag of its own fries for only £2.50.
The same goes for Birds Eye chicken dippers; the Clubcard can secure you 38 pieces at £4, but Tesco’s alternative gives you 44 dippers (with a higher 53% chicken breast content) for just £3.45.
These product swaps delivered a significant saving over £20 in total, which is far from pocket change.
Budgeting guru Lorna, who regularly imparts her wisdom, reiterated the importance of shop-floor strategies: “I know I have mentioned supermarket psychology before but I wanted to mention it again. Often when I put the prices of items I buy on here people immediately say ‘where do you buy that so cheap? We don’t get”.
“This is a my local Tesco which is fairly small but the cheaper ranges are still available. But they are out of eye level. Hidden low down on the shelf out the way where, unless you are specifically looking for them, you are unlikely to notice them. Check the whole shelf! “.
When we reached out to Tesco regarding the placement of cheaper products on lower shelves, a spokesperson responded: “We offer a wide range of products in our stores, with a variety of branded and own-brand products to suit customers’ needs, and thanks to our combination of Aldi Price Match, Low Everyday Prices and Clubcard Prices, shoppers can be sure they will get great value at Tesco, however they decide to shop.”