A shopping expert has shared her top tip for snagging discounted groceries at the supermarket – and changing where you look in store could help to cut your food bill.
TV presenter and journalist Kate Quilton, who has fronted shows including Food Unwrapped, How To Be Healthy and The Shopper’s Guide To Saving Money, explained that stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and Morrisons are strategic when it comes to placing products on their shelves. This means that you may have to hunt high and low in order to bag a bargain, as product placement can often rely on shoppers wanting to grab the quickest and easiest option, Kate explained.
The expert said that there is a “premium spot” on supermarket aisles that stands at around 130 centimetres high, the height at which the average shopper’s gaze tends to fall. Pricier products may be placed at this height, relying on customers whizzing around for their essentials and simply putting whichever brand they see first into their trolley to tick off their shopping list, while cheaper alternatives could be more hidden on top or bottom shelves where fewer people are likely to look, The Mirror reports.
“The most profitable items which the supermarkets obviously want to shift at volume, that’s where they are,” Kate explained on ITV’s Lorraine. “So if you want to save money, a good start is by looking down low. Look down low, you’ll find the cheaper ones.”
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The advice comes as food prices are predicted to rise by an average of 4.2% in the latter half of the year, as retailers battle £7 billion of increased costs from the Budget. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said modelling by industry chiefs indicates there is “little hope of prices going anywhere but up” as retailers face higher national insurance, national living wage and new packaging costs.
At the start of 2025, food prices saw their fastest monthly jump since April last year, with experts warning that this was an “early sign of what is to come”. Food prices overall increased by 0.5% between December and January, while the price of ambient food saw a 1% jump as prices spiked for sugary products, chocolates and alcohol, according to figures from the BRC.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Price cuts and deflation may not last much longer as retailers will soon feel the full impact of £7 billion of new costs announced at the last Budget. Higher employer NICs (national insurance contributions), increased national living wage, and a new packaging levy mean that prices are expected to rise across the board.”
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