Is Waitrose more expensive than M&S Food? We did the same shop at each to find out

While some families only go to M&S and Waitrose for a foody treat, for others they are the regular choice for the weekly food shop, but is Waitrose cheaper than M&S Food? Both supermarkets sit at the top end of the UK’s grocery market and pride themselves in offering premium products. But they can also be costlier than their competitors.

The award for the cheapest supermarket usually goes to discounter Aldi, with Lidl close behind, making the two stores the most likely choice for families looking to save money on food. At the other end of the scale, Waitrose, M&S and Ocado (which sells M&S food) regularly work out to be the most expensive supermarkets.

Goodto.com's Money Editor, Sarah Handley, says: "While there's no denying the popularity of budget supermarkets, for those who shop at M&S and Waitrose, it's still important to make sure you are getting value for money as food prices remain high."

We've already done the research to find out if Aldi or Lidl is cheaper, so we thought we’d now explore whether Waitrose is more expensive than rival M&S. Here’s what we found out.

Is Waitrose more expensive than M&S Food?

In our initial comparison, we found that M&S is actually more expensive than Waitrose - but not by much. We compared the price of 15 everyday products at both supermarkets, with M&S’ total cost coming to £22.95, just £1 more than Waitrose. 

Prices correct at the time of writing.

It’s important to note that we’ve used Waitrose’s Essential range for all items in the above table. The Essential range was introduced by Waitrose in 2009 (and relaunched in 2020) with the aim of offering quality everyday products at lower prices. But while this is most likely why Waitrose has beaten M&S in this example, interestingly, some of Waitrose’s Essential products are more expensive than some of M&S’ products. 

If we switch out some of the Essential range for other Waitrose products (it isn’t possible in all cases), Waitrose actually works out to be £3 more expensive than M&S:

Overall, however, the two supermarkets are fairly similar in the range of products they offer. There’s a good choice of organic foods too.  

Can you shop online with M&S Food and Waitrose? 

Yes you can shop online with both M&S and Waitrose and have your groceries delivered straight to your door. But you’ll need to use the Ocado website if you want to shop with M&S as you can’t place a delivery order directly through the M&S website.

If you're looking for the cheapest online food shopping out of the two, Ocado delivery prices range from 99p to £6.99 depending on slot availability. If your order is less than £75, there’s a minimum charge of £2.99 and a maximum of £6.99. Alternatively, you can sign up for the Ocado Smart Pass service which enables you to get free delivery slots when you want. Prices start from £89.99 a year if you want your deliveries any day of the week, or £39.99 a year if you’re happy for deliveries to be made Tuesday to Thursday. There are monthly and six-monthly options too. 

Waitrose’s delivery charge is £3, no matter which day you choose. You’ll need to spend a minimum of £40 per order. Waitrose also offers a click and collect service, while Ocado doesn’t (as it doesn’t have bricks and mortar shops).

How do M&S Food and Waitrose compare to other supermarkets? 

Although M&S and Waitrose are regarded as premium supermarkets, in some cases their everyday essentials actually work out cheaper than those on offer from other supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s or Morrisons. In other cases, they might be the same price. 

For example, a pack of six medium eggs costs £1.30 at Waitrose (Essential range), but £1.50 at both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. Meanwhile, 500g of Penne pasta costs 75p at Waitrose and M&S, but 89p at Morrisons. A 800g loaf of bread at all four of these supermarkets costs 75p. Keep in mind that if you shop at local convenience versions of supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express, prices will likely be higher. To test this rationale, we did an experiment to see if Tesco was cheaper than Tesco Express.

Overall, this highlights the benefits of shopping around and comparing supermarket deals to find the best price for your grocery shop. Of course, this won’t always be practical, but apps and sites such as Supermarket Wizard, Superizon and MySupermarketCompare can help you to compare deals across the major supermarkets more easily, so you can assess where you might find the best prices. 

It's also a good idea to get savvy to the tricks supermarkets use to get you to spend more money, so you can avoid spending unnecessarily.