'We're being ripped-off!': The supermarket that'll charge you 53% more for the SAME item in a smaller store

An exclusive Mirror investigation has revealed the supermarkets that are tweaking their prices by store size – and how shopping in another branch can save you a small fortune

NADA FARHOUD
14 June, 2017
Mirror UK

Nipping out to your local mini-supermarket for a top-up shop may be more convenient, but it could come at a cost.

A Mirror probe found products can be marked up by more than 50% compared with chains’ full-size stores.

In one case, a 425g bottle of Heinz Original Salad Cream cost £1.50 at Sainsbury’s main store in Brighton.

But in the chain’s Local branch less than a mile away, the same item was 80p more (£2.30) – a 53% mark-up.

Grabbing a roast chicken and bacon sandwich on the go could cost you dearly at M&S Simply Food outlets.

At £3.40 it was 60p more, a 21% difference, than in a main store Food Hall. While a loaf of Hovis Seven Seeds bread cost 5p (6%) more at Tesco Metro than in its bigger branches.

Gemma Godfrey, consumer expert at money-saving website moo.la, advised consumers to plan ahead and stock up in larger branches.

She added: “Convenience stores are more expensive to run than larger stores as rent is generally higher due to their central locations and transportation costs.

“You’d expect a small mark-up, but this investigation shows how consumers are being ripped-off as there is no consistency in added costs.

“Supermarkets get away with this by relying on customers’ sense of urg­­ency when using convenience stores.”

One in four people visit a convenience store at least once a day, reflected in their rise in town centres. In 2011, Sainsbury’s had fewer than 400 Local stores – now it has more than 800. Little Waitrose did not exist a decade ago, but there are now 64 outlets. Tesco Express has 1,740 branches.

A Tesco spokesman said: “We sometimes charge a little extra for products in our convenience stores as the costs associated with running them are higher.”

Sainsbury’s said: “There may be price and promotion differences between convenience stores and supermarkets where Local stores are located in city or town centre locations with higher operating costs.”

M&S said: “Some food prices are a little higher in franchise stores and in a small number of city stores where the running costs and rent are higher.”