Is your shopping really more expensive at Sainsbury’s than at Asda?
The two brands plan to merge in 2019 to make the UK's largest supermarket
WE all know that shopping at Sainsbury's will cost you more than it would at Asda, but how much more expensive is it really?
As the two supermarkets announce plans to merge to form one big shopping brand, we've taken a closer look at how much the prices differ.
Even though the merger has sparked fears of job losses, stores being shut and higher bills for customers, bosses hope the move will bring down prices on some products by 10 per cent.
We looked at both supermarkets' own-brand value ranges, premium ranges, branded goods, clothes and electricals to see who sold them cheaper.
We found that over all, your shopping will cost you less at Asda, although sometimes you can bag a bargain at Sainbsury's.
When it comes to clothes or premium range own-brand products, Asda comes out on top.
But, if you're buying from value ranges or looking for tech then there isn't much difference between the two.
Value ranges
Despite Asda having a reputation of being a much cheaper supermarket than Sainbury's, the two retailer's value ranges are actually fairly similar in price.
Sainsbury's Basics and Asda's Smart Price ranges only differ by about 20p between products.
Although, Asda comes out on top with only a two pack of kitchen roll and a packet of pasta being more expensive than the items we looked at in the Sainsbury's Basics range.
Premium ranges
Asda's Extra Special range is hands down cheaper than Sainsbury's Taste the Difference range.
On all the products we looked at Asda was at least 75p cheaper than Sainsbury's, except a 700ml bottle of gin which costs £16 in both supermarkets.
In particular, Asda was £1.60 cheaper per kg on a whole chicken, which makes a big difference if you're after a bird that is going to feed a large family.
Branded products
Once again Asda came out on top when comparing prices with Sainsbury's on branded products.
Sainsbury's was more expensive apart from the cost of a loaf of Hovis medium sliced soft white bread.
Though Asda is obviously cheaper on the brands we looked at, the difference in price was smaller than on other ranges.
There was only 1p difference on the cost of buying 100 Twinings English breakfast tea bags as Sainsbury's over purchasing them at Asda.
Clothing
Both stores have their own clothing lines- George at Asda and TU Clothing at Sainsbury's.
Probably the most stark differences in price comes when comparing Sainsbury's and Asda's clothing ranges.
This is a more difficult category to compare as the two supermarkets don't sell identical clothes, but we tried to find items that were very similar to one another.
If you were buying a basic men's polo shirt it would cost you £8 more from Sainsbury's Tu range than it would to buy from Asda's George collection.
Similarly a women's striped jumpsuit cost £9 more from Tu than it would do from George.
Tech
When it comes to buying tech, Asda is generally your best bet for value for money.
With the exception of Morphy Richards 2 slice toaster costing £9.96 more in Asda, the differences in price were all £1 and under.
There was only a 4p difference in buying a George Foreman family grill at Sainsbury's rather than Asda.
But if you are buying tech from Sainsbury's it's worth noting that the supermarket brand also owns Argos, where you might be able to get a better deal on your goods.
More on money
The supermarkets announced merger deals this morning, which will create a supermarket superpower with sales of more than £50billion and 2,800 stores across the UK.
Sainsbury's and Asda are currently the second and third biggest UK retailers respectively, with Tesco taking the top spot.
Mike Coupe, CEO of Sainsbury's has said that he expects the deal to go through by the second half of 2019.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 78 24516. Don't forget to join the for the latest bargains and money-saving advice.
Find Asda discount and offer codes with The Sun Vouchers