Aldi and Lidl seem to set the bar as far as the cheapest groceries go, with prices their big four rivals are forever scrabbling to match.
But there are some retailers providing even better value than the German giants – investigated in breezy four-part documentary Secrets of Supercheap Shopping (Channel 4, on demand).
Enter “the discount disruptors” who offer customers even keener value, primarily by selling past best before date or end of line products that would have otherwise gone to landfill.
In the third part, viewers met Mark King of Rogers Wholesale, who explained the business’s strategy was simply “being cheaper than anyone else”. As the charismatic – and not a million miles from Del Boy – character explained: “Ignore the date, grab a bargain, that’s what it’s all about”.
The business runs hyper-lean, with product left on pallets in what is essentially a walk-in warehouse. “We have no music playing because we don’t want to pay for an expensive PRS licence,” King revealed.
At online-only retailer Discount Dragons, CEO Wayne Kersh revealed the secrets of “spaving” or spend and save, where customers are tempted to build bigger baskets with freebies when they hit certain order size thresholds.
Meanwhile, at One Beyond, founder Chris Edwards shared the buzz of opening a new store, which the retailer has done at a rate of 19 a year on average since it was founded in 2019.
The narrator helpfully explained retail terminology and acronyms throughout, although viewers probably didn’t need to know the ins and outs of the printing process of a new store flyer.
As consumers continue to feel the pinch, this ad-like show for the Aldi alternatives will be widely welcomed.
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