Amazon Fresh Ealing

Amazon kicked off a major marketing push for its food offering this week

Guest retailer Amazon offered the lowest prices in this week’s Grocer 33, but Sainsbury’s shoppers with a Nectar card would have been able to get the goods cheaper.

Amazon, which this week launched a marketing drive to push its UK grocery credentials, came in 58p cheaper than runner-up Asda at £71.19. It offered the lowest price for 10 items and was exclusively cheapest for five including the Birra Moretti, Clover and red grapes.

Asda was cheapest for a dozen items and exclusively so for the Cadbury Mini Rolls, garlic, onions and pak choi.

Tesco came in £3.60 more expensive than Amazon at £74.79. However, its Clubcard Prices promotions saved its loyalty scheme members £2.39. This would have closed the gap to Amazon to just £1.21. It was also exclusively cheapest for the Dolmio sauce, Rowntree’s lollies, Cheestrings and sweetcorn.

Morrisons came in £6.20 more expensive than Amazon at £77.39, while perhaps the most surprising finding this week was Waitrose’s competitiveness.

At £77.42, it was just 3p more expensive than Morrisons and, as with last week’s Which? report, was also £2.15 cheaper than Sainsbury’s, which came in at £79.57. Waitrose was exclusively cheapest for the Innocent smoothie and Weetabix Minis.

However, Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices proved really game-changing. Nectar members would have saved £8.50, which would have made Sainsbury’s total 12p cheaper than Amazon’s. It was exclusively cheapest for the chicken breast fillets and Domestos bleach.

Our second guest retailer Ocado was last this week. It came in £9.05 more expensive than Amazon at £80.24. It was only exclusively cheapest for one item – the red grapefruit.

Across the board, year-on-year inflation was running at 8.8% though prices were down 0.3% versus last month.