Supermarkets reviewed: compare the best and worst

Discount supermarket Aldi is in second place for in-store shopping, with 88% saying they’d recommend it for this. 

In-store shoppers gave it a solid four-star rating for value for money (no supermarket scored the full five stars). We also named it the cheapest supermarket of 2023. 

But Aldi’s product availability and range are less impressive, both scoring a poor two stars. As it scored two stars on three separate measures, it doesn't qualify as a Which? Recommended Provider.

It can’t compete with M&S or Waitrose on in-store experience either. One shopper commented on its ‘excellent value but long queuing times at checkout’, while another said that ‘often the aisles are blocked’. 

Grumbles about in-store experience are unlikely to stop shoppers coming back, though. One said: ‘Not sure we would be able to afford a big shop anywhere else… couldn't do without Aldi.’ 

Online shoppers were unimpressed by Aldi, putting it at the bottom of the table and giving it two stars on every measure we asked about. 

The discount supermarket doesn’t offer home delivery and has stopped selling its popular ‘SpecialBuy’ products online. All of its click-and collect slots cost £4.99 when we last checked, which could make it more expensive than a home delivery from other supermarkets.

It had a bumper 2023, though, holding its position as the UK’s fourth largest supermarket by market share for the last three months of the year.

Amazon Fresh offers online grocery deliveries to Amazon Prime members, and is available in a limited number of postcodes. It also has checkout-free stores in and around London. It sells a range of products from brands including Booths, Robinsons and Warburtons.

Amazon Fresh has languished at or near the bottom of our online supermarkets table for the past two years, and this year was no exception.

Shoppers awarded it a measly two stars for communication about their delivery, the availability of slots, and value for money. One customer told us that prices can be ‘a bit high’, while another said it ‘can be more expensive than supermarkets’. 

In 2023 Amazon hiked the minimum spend required for free delivery during a two-hour slot from £40 to £60. Orders above £40 but below £60 now incur a £5 charge if you want a one-hour delivery slot, or £2 for a two-hour slot.

It doesn’t offer substitutions, so we haven’t rated it for those.

Amazon also offers same-day delivery on Co-op and Morrisons groceries in some areas.

Asda is joint last for in-store grocery shopping alongside Morrisons - and it’s been at or near the bottom of our in-store table for at least the last five years of our survey. 

This year, shoppers were particularly unhappy with poor-quality products, customer service and stock. One said: ‘I regularly struggle to get everything I need.’

Despite Asda often being named one of the cheapest major supermarkets in our monthly supermarket price comparison, survey respondents were clearly aware that price and value don't necessarily mean the same thing - it got just two stars for value for money, and one shopper told us ‘prices have gone up ridiculously’.

Online shoppers had a better time, ranking it mid-table. They liked the quality of own-label products but felt substitute item choice was poor. 

With 56% of its online customers receiving a substitution in their most recent shop (the highest for any online supermarket in our survey), this issue is likely affecting thousands of people.

Iceland is loved by its online customers, with shoppers awarding its customer service, value for money and product quality with four stars out of five. People praised the ‘helpful delivery staff’ and ‘easy-to-use website’.

However, it hasn’t qualified as a Which? Recommended Provider as it doesn't use front-of-pack traffic-light nutritional labelling, which is a long-standing Which? campaigning ask.

For in-store shopping Iceland is mid-table, with average scores for customer service, product range and availability, and value for money. 

It was the only supermarket to get one star for self-service, and just two stars for store appearance (alongside Lidl). 

The quality of its fresh and own-label produce was rated poorly, too, with one less-than-satisfied shopper saying that the ‘fresh food has poor dates’ and another saying 'fresh veggies and fruit looked quite manky'. 

Iceland has over 800 shops plus around 150 branches of The Food Warehouse – larger stores with a wider range of branded products, more fresh produce and larger value packs (like 38-bag sacks of crisps). 

In our survey, 83% of Iceland shoppers had used regular stores and 32% had shopped at The Food Warehouse.

It claims to be 'big on quality, Lidl on price' and, unsurprisingly, discount supermarket Lidl does well for value for money, its four stars only matched in-store by Aldi. No supermarket received five stars for value this year, so it’s one of the most highly rated on this measure.

It’s regularly one of the cheapest supermarkets in our grocery pricing analysis, too. 

Shoppers were less complimentary about other aspects of Lidl, though, rating it a dismal two stars out of five for customer service, the availability and quality of produce, and all aspects of the in-store experience. It was described as ‘untidy and chaotic’ by one shopper, while another told us ‘it can sometimes be a bit messy’.

Lidl was the only chain to get two stars for queuing time, with one shopper describing queues as ‘horrendous’. 

Nevertheless it’s doing well commercially, and in 2023 it overtook Asda to become the third-largest supermarket in London.

It doesn't offer home delivery or click-and-collect on groceries or its non-food Middle of Lidl products, so it isn't in our online supermarket table.

Morrisons joins Asda at the bottom of the in-store shopping table. It got just two stars for value for money and middling ratings across the other measures. 

Online it was third from the bottom of the table and got a distinctly average three stars across the board, except substitute item choice where it scored just two. The minimum order amount for delivery is £25 – lower than most – which one shopper said was ‘useful when not needing that much’.

In 2023 it brought back its loyalty scheme, Morrisons More, which offers points-earning as well as a selection of lower prices for members, similar to Sainsbury's Nectar Prices and Tesco's Clubcard Prices.

Its new CEO has announced plans to invite customers to management meetings in a bid to reverse Morrisons’ declining market share. Meanwhile, its petrol forecourts are being sold to Motor Fuel Group as part of a new tie-up, allowing Morrisons to focus on investment into the core food business.

If you want a supermarket experience that customers describe as ‘pleasant’ and ‘calm’ then M&S is the place to go, coming top of our in-store table for the third year in a row.

It achieved five stars out of five for overall customer service as well as staff availability and helpfulness, store appearance and product quality. One person told us they get ‘an excellent experience, quality products and good customer service’ when shopping at M&S. 

Despite the commendable shopping experience, we didn't make M&S a Which? Recommended Provider this year because of its poor value for money. One customer said ‘great products but a little expensive’, while another felt that the ‘shopping experience is good but more offers are needed’.

The pricey retailer says it has been focusing on improving value, though, with a £30m investment in lower prices and a push on its ‘Remarksable Value’ range, which claims to offer 'M&S quality' at an 'everyday low price' – and it seems to be paying off. M&S’s profits jumped by 75% for the 26 weeks ending 30 September 2023, and food sales grew 14.7%. 

It also opened nine new stores in November 2023 – the most it’s ever opened in a single month.

Ocado is an online-only grocer, and the only supermarket we've reviewed that doesn't have any bricks-and-mortar stores. It sells M&S food and drink as well as its own and other brands. 

We've named it a Which? Recommended Provider thanks to the combination of its rave reviews from shoppers (who scored it an impressive 75%) and our expert analysis of its overall performance on measures including other Which? investigations.

Shoppers like the availability and quality of groceries sold by Ocado, rating both a very good four stars. One said that the ‘addition of M&S products has enhanced its repertoire’, while another told us that Ocado has a 'really great range of products from all price ranges'. 

Ocado shoppers were also impressed by the availability of delivery slots, and the overall customer service and communication they got from the online-only supermarket. One satisfied customer told us: ‘I am extremely happy with their products, service and delivery drivers.’

Just 17% of Ocado shoppers told us they’d received a substitute item in their most recent Ocado order (the lowest of any supermarket). 

Around half of the Ocado shoppers we surveyed had a Smartpass, which at time of publication cost £8.99 per month for free deliveries at any time or £3.99 for deliveries Tuesday to Thursday. Smartpass also offers exclusive discounts, making it Ocado’s version of a loyalty scheme. It’s on the expensive side, but if you have more than one Ocado delivery a month, it’s worth considering.

Sainsbury’s is rated well by customers, and it got a good customer score both in-store and online. 

Shoppers liked the availability and quality of its products, awarding four stars on both measures, as well as the overall customer service experience.

It lost marks on value for money, though. In-store customers rated it a poor two stars, while online shoppers gave it three. One shopper said: ‘The quality is usually high but recently it’s been too expensive for a main shopping trip.’ 

Online customers praised the ‘pleasant and helpful’ delivery drivers but gave it just two stars for its choice of substitute items. One respondent told us they'd received anti-allergy tablets when what they'd ordered was an anti-allergy duvet.

Sainsbury’s now offers a lot of loyalty prices, where Nectar members pay less for some items, so if you aren’t a member you’ll often pay more. However, a June 2023 Which? investigation found that some Sainsbury's Nectar Price offers could have given shoppers the impression that the savings were more substantial than they really were.

This, coupled with our July 2023 grocery freshness investigation - in which Sainsbury’s delivered items with the most imminent use-by dates compared with others - rules it out as a Which? Recommended Provider this year.

Tesco - the UK’s biggest supermarket - is the joint-second highest online supermarket in our table, and was rated well by in-store shoppers too. 

Online shoppers gave it four stars for its collection and delivery slot availability and the way it communicates about these, as well as its customer service, stock availability and product quality. One satisfied customer described the delivery drivers as ‘helpful and polite’.

It couldn’t match the value for money of Iceland online, though, getting an average three stars. Last year it angered some customers by raising the minimum spend for online grocery deliveries from £40 to £50. 

One online customer said: ‘Food quality is good although much of it has become more expensive.’

It was a similar picture for in-store shopping, where Tesco scored four stars across the board apart from for value for money, where it got three.

Tesco makes significant use of loyalty pricing, where Clubcard members pay less, meaning non-members sometimes pay over the odds. However, a June 2023 Which? investigation found that Clubcard Price offers can sometimes give shoppers the impression that the savings are more substantial than they really are.

This, coupled with Tesco's failure to begin stocking budget-range groceries in its smaller convenience stores - which has been a Which? campaign call for many months now - means Tesco is not a Which? Recommended Provider.

Waitrose and M&S were the only supermarkets to get five stars for the quality of their own-label products. 

Coming in joint second place, we’ve named Waitrose a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) for online shopping. One customer praised the ‘good communication and very friendly drivers’. 

In-store shoppers love the appearance of Waitrose’s ‘always clean and tidy’ stores, not to mention its five-star customer service and product quality. 

But this all comes at a price: it scored just two stars for value for money in-store, meaning we didn’t make it a WRP for in-store shopping. It’s regularly the most expensive supermarket in our monthly supermarket price comparison, too. 

In February 2023 it committed to three rounds of price cuts, but in November trade publication The Grocer found that the prices of 24 items included in these price cuts had since been raised.