We do our primary shop in either Aldi or Lidl and whilst there’s a handful of my regular items I can’t buy there, it isn’t that much, so if they were the only options then I wouldn’t be too hard done by (I’m excluding things like toiletries which you could buy from a non-supermarket).
I do however go shopping in normal supermarkets in addition for a number of reasons:
1. Often the discounters are not the cheapest, I’m thinking of products like spices which I often buy in the jumbo bags from the international aisle in normal supermarkets in diverse areas, and certain basics/value ranges
2. Queues; the wait time (in Lidl especially) is usually quite long whereas it’s uncommon to have to queue for the self service machines in the normal supermarkets. Particularly relevant if I’m only buying one or two things such as bread or milk
3. Plastic & food waste; the discounters wrap most things in their fruit & veg aisles in plastic for their convenience. We’ve recently switched to buying some of our fruit & vegetables loose even though this usually means paying more
4. Opening hours; I don’t think that the discounters have many shops open outside of core hours (08.00-22.00) whereas I often have cause to go shopping in the early morning or late night because of my work pattern
5. Location; there simply isn’t as many of them in places convenient for me
and finally, something which is equally applicable to normal supermarkets but seems to be especially common in the discounters, 6. Stock control; I can’t remember the last time I went in Aldi/Lidl and they had everything in stock that I wanted!
I do however go shopping in normal supermarkets in addition for a number of reasons:
1. Often the discounters are not the cheapest, I’m thinking of products like spices which I often buy in the jumbo bags from the international aisle in normal supermarkets in diverse areas, and certain basics/value ranges
2. Queues; the wait time (in Lidl especially) is usually quite long whereas it’s uncommon to have to queue for the self service machines in the normal supermarkets. Particularly relevant if I’m only buying one or two things such as bread or milk
3. Plastic & food waste; the discounters wrap most things in their fruit & veg aisles in plastic for their convenience. We’ve recently switched to buying some of our fruit & vegetables loose even though this usually means paying more
4. Opening hours; I don’t think that the discounters have many shops open outside of core hours (08.00-22.00) whereas I often have cause to go shopping in the early morning or late night because of my work pattern
5. Location; there simply isn’t as many of them in places convenient for me
and finally, something which is equally applicable to normal supermarkets but seems to be especially common in the discounters, 6. Stock control; I can’t remember the last time I went in Aldi/Lidl and they had everything in stock that I wanted!