Best times of day to get ‘yellow sticker’ supermarket bargains revealed

Almost 40% of people are buying ‘yellow sticker’ discounted products nearing their expiration dates to help save money on groceries, according to Barclays.

This comes as six in 10 (59%) households told Which? they have made at least one adjustment to cover essential spending such as groceries, utility bills, housing costs, school supplies and medicines in the last month.

Read on to find out when the likes of Aldi, Asda, Lidl and Tesco discount their groceries, as well as other steps you can take to cut your supermarket shopping bill.

What time of day do the supermarkets reduce prices?

You’ll usually find a section in larger supermarkets, and some convenience stores, with products emblazoned with yellow ‘reduced’ stickers. These tend to be items that are nearing their best before or use-by date.

Some reductions can make the products considerably cheaper than they would have been otherwise.

Here’s what the major supermarkets told us about when they cut their prices and the potential savings you could make on 'yellow sticker' items (or red if you’re shopping at Aldi).

At Aldi and M&S, the times at which items are reduced varies by store, but are likely to be near to the time the store closes.

Aldi marks down perishable products like bread, meat, fruit and vegetables by either 30% or 75% on their last day of shelf life before stores close, and gives a 30% discount on ambient groceries such as cereal, pasta and tinned food if it deems the packaging imperfect.

Asda said yellow stickers are usually applied to items twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening.

Lidl works in much the same way. It told us that employees tend to make reductions first thing and then a few hours before closing, but can opt to do so throughout the day.

Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose all told us there aren't specific times when their in-store employees apply 'yellow sticker’ price cuts. 

• Find out more: which is the cheapest supermarket?

Ways to spend less at the supermarket

Grocery inflation reached 17.3% in the four weeks to 16 April 2023, according to market analyst Kantar, and it estimates this adds around £800 to the average household’s annual shopping bill. But there are steps you can take to reduce your shopping bill.

Shop around

You'll be well aware that some supermarkets are cheaper than others. But the amount their prices vary by can be quite staggering.

Which? analyses thousands of grocery prices each month to find the cheapest supermarket. In April, a basket of 39 items would have cost £69.99 at Aldi, and £87.33 at Waitrose - that's 25% more. 

Supermarkets' loyalty card programmes could help determine where you shop, too. You could save between 50p (with Sainsbury's Nectar) and £5 (Iceland) for every £100 you spend when using loyalty schemes. 

Co-op, Sainsbury's and Tesco all also offer member-only prices on selected items. 

• Find out more: Sainsbury's launches 'Nectar Prices'

Avoid convenience stores 

Avoiding convenience stores could save you hundreds of pounds a year on groceries.

Which? analysed the prices of a trolley of own-branded and branded products at the two largest traditional supermarket convenience chains - Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local - and compared them with the same items at their larger supermarket counterparts, for every week in 2022.

In the basket of 75 groceries we compared between Tesco and Tesco Express, we found a massive yearly price difference of £817.91. We also compared the prices of 69 groceries between Sainsbury's and Sainsbury's Local, and found you would have paid £477.93 more in 2022 if you only shopped in its convenience stores.  

Try own-label or budget ranges

Which? regularly taste tests food and drink to uncover how well-known brands fare against own-label alternatives.

The big brands are often beaten by cheaper supermarket versions. And sometimes, our tasters simply can't tell the difference, which may be because branded and own-label products are often made by the same people in the same factories.

But be aware that budget ranges may not always actually be the cheapest option - so compare against other product prices before putting them in your basket.

• Find out more: 8 things you should know about budget groceries

Use unit pricing to find the best deals

Unit prices, such as the price per 100g or the price per 100ml, rather than the overall pack price can help you work out the price differences between items.

An investigation we conducted in August 2022 found that unit pricing is missing on some multibuys and loyalty card prices. We also found numerous examples where it was illegible, inconsistent or confusing, and you could pay up to 346% more by going for different sizes of the same product.

Be aware of supermarkets' psychological tactics

Supermarkets use various tricks to encourage customers to spend more. But the more aware you are of these tactics, the more you can wise up to them and hone your grocery spending.

For instance, anything that forces us to change direction makes you pay attention, as do signs that move or flash.

Another effective trick is using vertical signs in the middle of aisles, as our eyes naturally scan from left to right, so breaking up that flow encourages us to pay attention to an offer and, more often than not, spend more than we intended.

• Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket