Aldi tops grocery store satisfaction survey

"We're over the moon to be named the best supermarket in the Which? annual customer satisfaction survey voted for by UK shoppers", Aldi UK and Ireland chief executive Matthew Barnes said.

The second favourite supermarket was Marks & Spencer (LON: MKS), followed closely by Lidl and then Waitrose (LON: JLH) falling into fourth place.

The large supermarkets fared worst, with Sainsbury's ranked last of nine.

As high inflation pushes prices upwards, customers have moved towards discount retailers - both Aldi and its rival Lidl have been growing quickly in the notoriously competitive United Kingdom supermarket at the expense of the larger retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl did not score highly in all areas, they both scored poorly for queuing time, staff availability and for the range of products on offer. But they were marked up for the quality of their fresh and own-label products.

And although Waitrose shoppers complimented the upmarket chain's "top quality produce" and helpful staff, overall customers did not believe the supermarket offered good value for money.

While Aldi accounts for only 7% of the United Kingdom grocery market and Lidl 5%, the discount chains have seen strong sales growth over the last few years.

Alex Neill, the consumer group's director of home products and services, said: 'With food costs rising it seems as though shoppers have felt the pinch and are voting with their feet and wallets'.

Reports in the Guardian suggest that Tesco has hired advisers from Boston Consulting Group to help it establish a separate brand identity with which to challenge the upstarts head-on.

A spokesperson Tesco declined to comment.

Among online supermarkets, Iceland claimed the top spot for the third year running but shared it with Ocado for the first time.

The supermarkets were also rated for their online services.

Morrisons.com and Waitrose.com came joint third, and the fifth spot taken by Amazon Fresh which rolled out its service to an additional 42 United Kingdom postcodes a year ago but is not yet available nationwide.