Aldi knocks Waitrose off top spot for customer satisfaction

Budget retailer Aldi has been voted Britain's favourite supermarket in a poll by consumer group Which?, knocking Waitrose off the top spot.

The annual customer satisfaction survey found that shoppers were impressed by Aldi's "fantastic prices", awarding it a five-star rating in value for money and an overall satisfaction score of 74%.

Waitrose, which has held the top position for the past three years, dropped to fourth place as consumers branded it "a bit pricey".

Marks & Spencer (Frankfurt: 534418 - news) came in second, while Lidl clinched third place.

Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's ended up in last place out of nine, with shoppers unimpressed by the grocery giant's special offers.

The results of the survey, which asked for feedback from 6,800 customers across the UK, appear to mirror wider trends in the grocery market.

As high inflation pushes prices upwards, customers have moved towards discount retailers - both Aldi and its rival Lidl have been growing quickly in the notoriously competitive UK supermarket at the expense of the larger retailers like Tesco (Frankfurt: 852647 - news) and Sainsbury's.

Both discounters emerged as the biggest winners over the key Christmas trading period, with sales up at each by 16.8%.

The "big four" supermarket giants - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - have been cutting costs in order to invest more in their price offerings, in an attempt to hold on to their market shares.

Here is the ranking, according to Which?

1. Aldi

2. Marks & Spencer

3. Lidl

4. Waitrose

5. Iceland

6. Tesco

=7. Asda

=7. Morrisons

9. Sainsbury's

"With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) food costs rising it seems as though shoppers have felt the pinch and are voting with their feet and wallets", says Alex Neill, Managing Director of Which? Home Products and Services.

"The big four supermarkets need to up their game or risk losing their customers to other supermarkets who are doing a better job of giving people what they want."