A reporter from the Money Saving Expert website demonstrated that by simply crouching down to find own-brand items on lower shelves, shoppers can save over £17 on a typical Asda shop. The test compared prices of 10 everyday items, with the own-brand total coming to £11.26 versus £28 for branded equivalents.
What is the crouching trick?
The theory, first proposed by Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert site in 2017, suggests supermarkets place pricier branded products at eye level, while cheaper own-brand versions are positioned lower down, forcing shoppers to crouch to see them. The site tested this across three supermarkets and confirmed that own-brand items are often on the bottom shelf, typically in the bottom left corner.
Testing the trick at Asda
The reporter selected 10 items: instant coffee, Greek yoghurt, linguine pasta, pasta sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, marmalade, flour, almond milk, and bread. For four items (Greek yoghurt, pasta sauce, ketchup, almond milk), the Asda own-brand was on a lower shelf than the branded version. For mayonnaise, marmalade, and flour, both options required crouching. For pasta and bread, no crouching was needed.
Savings breakdown
The complete price comparison was as follows: Nescafe Instant Coffee (£6) vs Asda Instant Coffee (£2.28); Fage Greek Yoghurt (£3.65) vs Asda Greek Yoghurt (£1.70); Napolina Linguine (£1.57) vs Asda linguine (80p); Dolmio pasta sauce (£2.59) vs Asda pasta sauce (69p); Hellman's mayonnaise (£3.25) vs Asda mayonnaise (93p); Heinz ketchup (£4.70) vs Asda ketchup (£1.35); Golden Shred marmalade (£1.90) vs Asda marmalade (85p); Be-Ro flour (£1.97) vs Asda flour (70p); Alpro almond milk (£1.62) vs Asda almond milk (£1.41); Kingsmill bread (£1.25) vs Asda white bread (55p). The total saving was £17.22.
Impact on shoppers
With the cost of living crisis continuing to affect households, this simple trick can help reduce weekly grocery bills. The reporter noted that while not all items required crouching, the savings from choosing own-brand were substantial.
