This is an interesting read from The Guardian about societal class preference of UK
supermarkets. Enjoy the read: Britain's supermarkets gross an eye-popping £75bn a year. The supermarket industry's enormous value explains the ferocity with which the recent £3bn takeover battle for the Safeway chain was fought between Asda-Walmart and eventual victors Morrison. Are supermarkets class-stratified?
According to Verdict Research, Waitrose has the highest proportion of shoppers from the professional social classes A and B (47%), followed by Sainsbury's (34%), Marks & Spencer (22%), Tesco (21%) and Safeway (17%). At the bottom of the market, 72% of Netto's shoppers are blue-collar Ds or Es, with Kwik Save (66%), Lidl (54%) and Somerfield (50%) close behind.
Data analysts Experian have devised a consumer classification system called Mosaic UK, which many supermarkets use to help make key decisions (where to put a store, what to fill it with, etc). Using the 2001 Census figures and data on such things as county court judgments, credit ratings, qualifications, car ownership, age and background, and working on this data with geo demographic software, Mosaic UK divides the country into 11 groups, each of which is given an evocative name and a stereotypical - and determinedly heterosexual - couple to match. These 11 master categories break down into 61 delightfully named sub-groups (Golden Empty Nesters, Dinky Developments, White Van Culture, Town Gown Transition etc).
So where do you shop? It says a great deal more about you than you may care to acknowledge.
Waitrose
Is for the "symbols of success" group, which represents 9.6% of UK households, are most likely to shop here. According to Experian: "The air of discretion and understatement that is associated with traditional premium brands appeals more than the flamboyance and conspicuous consumption associated with the nouveau riche."
Prices2 pints semi-skimmed milk
58p
450g chicken tikka
masala and rice
£2.35
1.5kg plain flour
48p
4-pack loo roll
£1.59
Sainsbury's
The most likely Sainsbury's shoppers are the "urban intelligence" archetypes, who represent 7.2% of UK households. Young, well-educated, cosmopolitan in their tastes, liberal in their outlooks and unlikely to have children, they live in inner-city areas and have high levels of disposable income.
A carefully groomed woman in her mid-40s said: "If I'm being honest, Sainsbury's makes me feel good about myself. I'm rich and I'm living life well. Shopping here is part of all that."
Prices
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 58p
Chicken tikka masala with rice (500g) £3.29
1.5 kg plain flour 79p
4-pack loo roll £1.55
from Superfine range (or 9 rolls for £1 from the low-price range).
Tesco
The second most important shoppers to Tesco, are the "happy families" group, who represent 10.8% of UK households. Young couples raising young children, they work in large public or private organisations and live in areas of rapidly expanding employment, such as Northampton, Milton Keynes and Swindon.
Verdict Research's says, "Tesco is determinedly moving away from being downmarket and price-led. It's Britain's most successful grocer at the moment, and it's trying to move into Sainsbury's AB demographic." This may well explain the new "grab-and-go olive counter" at the Colney Hatch branch in north London.
Tesco, however, still has a value-fixated slogan ("Every little helps"), while Sainsbury's, interestingly, is the only British supermarket that has a quality-related one ("Making life taste better"). The former, no doubt, appeals to the more anxious and income-straitened, hence Scales' price-obsessed TV persona.
Prices
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 58p
Chicken tikka masala 450 grammes £2.35
1.5 kg own-brand flour 48p ("Value" range flour 28p)
4-pack loo roll £1.55 (Value range: 42p)
Safeway
Surprisingly, it is "rural isolationists" who are the group most likely to shop at Safeway. Rural isolation types, who make up 5.4% of UK households, live deep in the countryside and are not much influenced by the influx of urban commuters.
A thirtysomething building society employee in a suit, clutching a box of Belgian choco-mints, says fondly: "I come here because it's quieter than other supermarkets. I like having quiet space to muse on what I'm buying. Maybe it's quiet because it's not successful. Whatever - I like that vibe."
Prices:
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 61p
Chicken tikka masala with rice (500g) £3.49
1.5kg flour 50p (Savers range 36p)
4-pack loo roll £1.79 (Savers range 39p)
Marks & Spencer
Marks' food shoppers are more upmarket than the clothes shoppers. Least likely to visit M&S are the "municipal dependency" archetypes, who live on large, low-rise estates far from the centre of the city, and represent 6.7% of UK households. ."
Prices
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 63p
Chicken tikka masala without rice (350g) £3.89
No flour
4-pack loo roll £2.49
Asda
Asda is the flipside of Safeway in terms of social composition. For these groups, balancing the budget is much more important than long-term financial planning.
Asda's not really upmarket, but is for people who see themselves as financially prudent and who feel anxious about getting ripped off. That probably explains why so many things are so delightfully cheap at the Wembley Park branch I visit: Best of the Specials CD, £3.97; bin-bag sized Indian meal for one, £2.51.
Prices
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 58p
Chicken tikka masala without rice (350 g) £1.98
1.5kg flour 38p (Smart Price range 27p)
4-pack loo roll £1.33 (Smart Price range 42p)
Morrisons
The "ties of community" group, which represents 16% of the population, are most likely to shop here. These neighbourhoods are typically in former coalfield regions, old steel and shipbuilding towns and places with docks and chemical plants. Morrisons, too, is mostly based in the north of England.
Prices
2 pints semi-skimmed milk 58p
Chicken tikka masala with rice (450g) £1.99
1.5kg plain flour 45p (Bettabuys range 38p)
4-pack loo roll £1.05
Lidl
When the doors open at 9am at the Tottenham Hale branch, the waiting customers rush to a box filled with cheap watches. The floor is dirty, there is a smell of bleach and a disturbing sign: "Help us keep our prices low. If you're aware of anyone stealing Lidl goods don't turn a blind eye, call [number given] in absolute confidence." There is no piped music, and no truffle oil.
"I'm unemployed and I come here because it is the cheapest place to buy things that I know," says a man with his hands pushed deep into his pockets. "I come here by bus when I go to the job centre which is nearby."
Prices
Semi-skimmed milk only sold in 4-pint packs: 99p
Chicken tikka masala with rice (360g): 99p
1.5kg flour: 27p
4-pack loo roll: 99p
Ocado
Ocado is the home-delivery service attached to Waitrose, and thus has a strong claim to be the snootiest of such online services. Webber, though, is not so sure. "The people who are by far the most likely to order groceries on line are people who live in military bases." This is followed by a subgroup called "new urban colonists", busy metropolitan families with big mortgages, living in older but fashionable streets of terraced houses.
Prices
Same as Waitrose. Delivery costs £5 if you spend less than £75; otherwise it's free
Full article here
