Why we're losing trust in supermarkets

Faith in supermarkets has dropped sharply among shoppers, as the cost of our food continues to rise.

If you are feeling a bit put out by your local supermarket, you aren’t alone.

A new study from the consumer champions Which? has found that trust in supermarkets has dropped to its lowest level in nine years.

And that is at a time when our spending on food has continued to rise at an eye-watering rate.

So what’s driving this lack of trust? And what can we do to have a better relationship with our supermarkets?

Falling trust

Which? carries out monthly trackers into how consumers feel about different industries, and it’s clear from the findings that we aren’t feeling too positive about supermarkets.

The latest tracker found that our confidence ‒ which can range from minus 100 to 100 in the tracker ‒ is currently at 36. 

That’s the lowest score registered by supermarkets since November 2014, and represents quite the drop off from the previous high of 68 which was recorded back in May 2020.

Why our trust in supermarkets is falling

While the tracker itself doesn’t pick out the drivers for how we feel about certain industries, separate research from Which? gives us a pretty good insight.

There are issues around the pricing in convenience stores, for example, which tend to be more expensive and don’t always stock budget items. Around two-thirds of respondents to a Which? study felt that shoppers in these stores are being ripped off.

But it’s not just the pricing in convenience stores that is the issue here ‒ it’s the pricing everywhere.

Because the reality is that no matter where you shop, the cost of your food has increased significantly over the last year, and it doesn’t look like that is about to stop anytime soon.

Rising food prices

The most recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that food price inflation dropped to 19.1% in the 12 months to April, down from the 19.2% registered the month before.

While it’s obviously a positive that inflation receded marginally, that is still the second highest figure in 45 years.

And while the rate of inflation may be slowing slightly, chances are we aren’t seeing any actual benefit in the cost of our food at the till.

Because it doesn’t mean that costs are falling; they are still rising incredibly quickly, just a bit less rapid compared with the month before.

As a result, even as that rate starts to come down ‒ assuming it continues to in the months ahead ‒ our finances will continue to come under ever greater pressure as food prices will still be rising overall.

Given that inflation generally continues to be much higher than the Bank of England’s 2% target, despite successive hikes to the Bank Base Rate, our money is under strain from every angle.

The scandal of shrinkflation

It’s not just the headline increases to food prices that is hurting households, and damaging our levels of trust in supermarkets though. It’s also clear that we are becoming far more adept at spotting ‘shrinkflation’.

This is where the size of a product is reduced, but the price we pay doesn’t move.

We've highlighted issues with this particular trend on loveMONEY before, but it’s worth noting that awareness of it is growing among shoppers.

A study earlier this month by Barclays found that around two-thirds of shoppers have spotted products being sold in smaller sizes without the price changing.

Certain products were pinpointed as being particularly impacted here, such as chocolate, crisps and packs of biscuits.

As a result, even as your supermarket shopping bill goes up, it may be that you have less food to show for it.

Hunting for deals

Inevitably given the price rises we are facing, all of us will have been taking extra measures to try to cut our food costs. 

Nine in ten respondents said they were worried about the cost of food, with almost six in 10 (57%) opting to buy cheaper items. Around four in ten (39%) said they have shopped around in order to save money.

Once again, there can be issues around trust here too.

Just last week we had Which? suggesting that Tesco may be breaking the law by failing to highlight unit costs for products included in its Clubcard Prices promotion, potentially making it harder for shoppers to make informed decisions.

Making our money stretch further

Most of our big supermarkets have made a lot of noise about price promotions in recent months.

In some cases, these have been the unveiling of new reduced prices for those who are members of the supermarket’s loyalty schemes, while others prefer simply to cut prices, as we saw this week from Waitrose.

The thinking is obvious here ‒ they want to keep our custom as much as possible, or attract those who are shopping around.

It’s not exactly a surprise that Aldi and Lidl have seen significant increases to their market share, when virtually everyone else has lost customers overall.

Ultimately the only way we are going to have a better relationship with supermarkets is by removing any sense of loyalty we feel towards them, and instead open ourselves up to shopping around.

We can then take advantage of those various deals and ensure we get the best possible value for money.

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