If all of the supermarket chains in the UK except for Aldi and Lidl disappeared, would you care?

[Belperpete]

Morrisons have a certain smell , i think its grease and cleaning chemicals from the cafe . Sainsburys locals and perhaps bigger ones have a smell too.

My local Lidl has the smell of fresh-baked bread, which is about the only positive thing I have to say about the place! Can't say that I've ever noticed an odd smell in any Morrisons that I've ever visited, but then the bakery smells usually mask anything (one of the reasons that a lot of stores have in-house bakeries).

Individual branches of the same supermarket can be quite different. I travelled back along the North Wales Coast yesterday as the Cambrian was closed, and took the opportunity to pop into the Morrisons there. Took me back to the Morrisons where I used to live, with all its Market Street departments, unlike the Caernarfon Morrisons which is always a bit of a let-down by comparison. The Caernarfon Asda is also a bit of a let-down. But then frankly, most of Caernarfon is a bit of a let-down.

There was a TV programme a year or two back, where they got some regular shoppers from Tesco to try an Aldi, and some regular Aldi shoppers to try Tesco. The Tesco shoppers' main complaint about the Aldi of it being less friendly couldn't have been more different to my current or previous local Aldis, where the staff are very friendly. The Aldi shoppers were put off by the poor quality of the Tesco produce, and higher prices. In the end, both sets of shoppers decided they preferred the store they were used to. I think people get used to a certain store, and get accustomed to the things that store sells, what is good quality and what isn't, and so on. Another store will initially never seem as good - they don't sell this, that is not as good, and so on.

I have never been one for doing one big weekly shop, and instead do smaller shops from each of my local supermarkets - I am lucky to have three biggish supermarkets within walking distance, and a couple more within a free bus ride away. I know each of their strengths and weakness, and what to buy or not buy from each. None of them is best at everything. I would miss the Aldi most, but I would certainly not be happy if it was my only choice.

 

[JamesT]

I don't understand why the press refer to LIDL and ALDI as 'discounters'. I shop at LIDL every week and have never been offered a reduction for paying cash, nor are the BOGOF type offers any more prevalent than at the others. What I do notice is that a branded item like stilton cheese (there is only one source for that, so no question of own labels) is considerably cheaper in LIDL than Tesco or Morrisons (my other local available store choices). Just an example.
To me, a discounter is someone who will sell you 10 of something much cheaper if you are willing to hamster it somewhere at home, Del Boy style, or gives you discount for paying cash. I know of no other explanation for the term and LIDL supermarkets are thus not discounters in any way, just overall much cheaper. However, it's a slightly more restricted assortment. Today we could find no bouquet garni spice pot nor parmesan cheese at our LIDL, and they don't worry if they run out of something, particularly. In fact they had also run out of stilton today.

I believe they’re called discounters because they focus primarily on price and sell at a “discount” to the market.
They manage said discount by buying in bulk a limited set of items when they’re available rather than paying a premium to their suppliers to ensure availability. Hence being usually cheaper but more often out of stock than other supermarkets.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I think they are both rather poor.

Cramp, poor range, not enough check-outs, small car parks and no continuity in supply.

Tesco and M&S for me

 

[FrodshamJnct]

I think they are both rather poor.

Cramp, poor range, not enough check-outs, small car parks and no continuity in supply.

Tesco and M&S for me

Agreed. I’ve tried Aldi and Lidl but the quality just isn’t the same as Tesco or Sainsbury’s.