Discounters replace Waitrose and Sainsbury's at top of the public opinion charts

Public opinion of Aldi and Lidl is at an all-time high, according to the results of a recent poll.

The German discounters took respective first and second place in YouGov’s mid-year BrandIndex rankings, beating longstanding rivals Waitrose , Sainsbury ’s and Marks & Spencer to the top spots for the first time.

“Consumers are clearly not only impressed by the price of goods at Aldi and Lidl, but the quality too – it seems that many consumers choosing Aldi and Lidl are now doing so because they actively want to, rather than because they have to,” said Sarah Murphy, BrandIndex director at YouGov, adding that this represented a big change in consumer attitudes towards the brands.

Aldi and Lidl triumphed in both the overall rankings and the top improvers list, which compares current scores to last year’s.

Participants in the poll were asked to rate brands based on whether they had heard anything positive or negative about them in the last two weeks.

Waitrose came third, which YouGov attributes to their focus on winning new customers, introducing a loyalty card, expanding the “essential” range and giving customers free coffee .

But all the free coffee in the world couldn’t hinder the rise of Aldi and Lidl, whose scores reflect the extent to which discounters have affected the market sector.

This success can be at least partially attributed to their focus on providing quality products at an affordable price, Sarah added.

“With declining sales afflicting certain members of the “top four,” how they react to this threat from Aldi and Lidl will shape the industry in the months and years to come.”