Supermarket battle heats up as Tesco rolls out Aldi worth match to Express shops

Tesco will roll out its Aldi price match scheme to over 2,000 of its convenience stores, in the latest sign that the country’s biggest supermarket is taking the fight to its discounter rivals.  

The retailer has said it will match prices of more than 200 products, including household staples such as pasta and milk, at its Express shops. 

Higher prices at convenience shops compared to bigger superstores have long been a gripe amongst British shoppers.

There was a 10 per cent average price difference between smaller and bigger shops at Tesco, according to 2024 research from consumer group Which.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have all rolled out Aldi price match schemes to keep up with the growing popularity of discounters as grocery prices soared. 

The conflict in the Middle East threatens to push the price of food and household goods even higher, as energy and fertiliser prices bite. 

Tesco hopes to poach shoppers from German discounters Aldi and Lidl amid pressure on prices

Ashwin Prasad, chief executive of Tesco UK, said: ‘We know that household budgets are again under pressure, but we are committed to keeping the cost of the weekly food shop affordable for Tesco customers.’

‘By extending our Aldi Price Match scheme to Express stores we can now give customers the confidence that they can get great prices on a range of everyday products at Tesco, whether that’s in our large stores, online or in more than 2,000 of our local convenience stores.’

Tesco recently said it had tripled the number of products on ‘Everyday Low Prices’ to 3,000, with more than 600 Aldi Price Match lines. 

From Friday, the retailer is also offering Barclays customers 5 per cent cashback on fuel at its petrol stations for 3 months. 

It means customers will be able to save around 7p off the average litre of petrol. 

While consumers are growing more cautious with their spending, Tesco saw sales rise 4.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 19 April, according to industry figures. 

While it retains its spot as Britain’s most popular retailer, discounters Lidl and Aldi are starting to eat away at other supermarkets. 

Lidl outsold Morrisons for the first time ever as sales rose 8.8 per cent over the period to £3.05billion. Meanwhile, Morrisons’ sales increased just 1.1 per cent to £3.03billion.