Supermarkets discussion

[jon81uk]

With the disappearance of Dixons from the high street maybe Boots should be back into selling small electrical goods ?.

There isn’t really a market for small electronics as smart phones have replaced MP3 players, alarm clocks, calculators, dictaphones, dictionary, camera, video camera and more. Of course not everyone uses the smart phone for all of these and may prefer a dedicated device, but then you are normally looking for a specialist retailer.

I think even the MP3 player taking over from the portable cassette, MiniDisc and CD players 20 years ago was one of the final reasons for places like Boots to move away from electronics.

 

[JamesT]

There isn’t really a market for small electronics as smart phones have replaced MP3 players, alarm clocks, calculators, dictaphones, dictionary, camera, video camera and more.

Of course not everyone uses the smart phone for all of these and may prefer a dedicated device, but then you are normally looking for a specialist retailer.

I think even the MP3 player taking over from the portable cassette, MiniDisc and CD players 20 years ago was one of the final reasons for places like Boots to move away from electronics.

These days lots of the small electronics are adjuncts to the phone. For example Bluetooth speakers. But I suspect down that end it's all low margin stuff, not worth giving up shelf space for.

 

[Forty29]

I had a portable cassette player from Boots Worcester in the early 90s, think my alarm clock also came from them. They had a significant small electronics department and cookware section.

Yes had seperate hardware shops called Timothy White's. I worked for them as a Saturday job whilst at School £5 for a full day. Lost count of the amount of Kenwood chefs and tins of Chappie dog food l sold. It was in a well to do area and served many famous TV and film stars!

 

[Peter Sarf]

I had a portable cassette player from Boots Worcester in the early 90s, think my alarm clock also came from them. They had a significant small electronics department and cookware section.

You are making me think - was the main Hi-Fi etc product Boots sold the "Aiwa" brand ?.

 

[Bald Rick]

You are making me think - was the main Hi-Fi etc product Boots sold the "Aiwa" brand ?.

They certainly sold Aiwa stuff, but then so did lots of other places.

 

[Peter Sarf]

They certainly sold Aiwa stuff, but then so did lots of other places.

I think you are right - but when I think of "Aiwa" Boots comes to mind (perhaps Boots majored on it).

 

[JamesT]

I think you are right - but when I think of "Aiwa" Boots comes to mind (perhaps Boots majored on it).

Aiwa was essentially the cheap brand of Sony. Places like Dixons had their own brands (remember Saisho and Matsui?), so perhaps they had less need to stock a budget brand compared to Boots?

 

[bspahh]

Aiwa was essentially the cheap brand of Sony. Places like Dixons had their own brands (remember Saisho and Matsui?), so perhaps they had less need to stock a budget brand compared to Boots?

There is a discussion at https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=152899 with some pictures of a Boots Audio Hi Fi receiver and cassette deck, which someone identifies as a rebadged Aiwa model.

Saisho was the own brand from Dixons. Matsui was from Currys.

You can also browse old Argos catalogues at https://retromash.com/argos/ if you want to see pictures of Binatone, Lloytron, Fidelity, Alba and Pye.

 

[Peter Sarf]

There is a discussion at https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=152899 with some pictures of Boots Audio Hi Fi receiver and cassette deck, which someone identifies as a rebadged Aiwa model.

Saisho was the own brand from Dixons. Matsui was from Currys.

You can also browse old Argos catalogues at https://retromash.com/argos/ if you want to see pictures of Binatone, Lloytron, Fidelity, Alba and Pye.

Ah... That makes sense. I vaguely recall back in the 70s/80s we had worked out Boots own brand HiFi must be a re-badged Aiwa.

I have always been interested in re-badged items as I reckon they are often exactly the same equipment but sold at a price the actual manufacturer would not want to have their own products sold at.

 

[py_megapixel]

Used the scan & go feature in Sainsbury's for the first time today. It seems to be a bit different to the other stores.

Firstly, in Sainsbury's you choose a handset and then log in by scanning your Nectar card with the handset itself. Every other system I've used has you log in at a central terminal which then directs you to take a specific handset.

The Sainsbury's system seems a bit more efficient as you don't get people crowding around the central terminal, but I suppose it does mean the system can't intelligently allocate handsets based on e.g. state of charge (which would be technically possible; whether it's done in practice anywhere I have no idea)

Secondly, despite being my first time it didn't call for a rescan. Tesco/Asda/Waitrose seem to insist on a rescan for all first-time users (based on my experience, not any knowledge of their internal policies).

For the avoidance of doubt - I paid for all my items!

 

[Trackman]

Ah... That makes sense. I vaguely recall back in the 70s/80s we had worked out Boots own brand HiFi must be a re-badged Aiwa.

I have always been interested in re-badged items as I reckon they are often exactly the same equipment but sold at a price the actual manufacturer would not want to have their own products sold at.

Aiwa was high-end hi-fi equipment and I have owned a fair few of their products.

Why did Boot's rebrand them?

 

[jon0844]

Used the scan & go feature in Sainsbury's for the first time today. It seems to be a bit different to the other stores.

Firstly, in Sainsbury's you choose a handset and then log in by scanning your Nectar card with the handset itself. Every other system I've used has you log in at a central terminal which then directs you to take a specific handset.

The Sainsbury's system seems a bit more efficient as you don't get people crowding around the central terminal, but I suppose it does mean the system can't intelligently allocate handsets based on e.g. state of charge (which would be technically possible; whether it's done in practice anywhere I have no idea)

Secondly, despite being my first time it didn't call for a rescan. Tesco/Asda/Waitrose seem to insist on a rescan for all first-time users (based on my experience, not any knowledge of their internal policies).

For the avoidance of doubt - I paid for all my items!

I use the app, as I don't carry a physical card. I could show it on Google Wallet I suppose to scan, but the app is easier.

I've never ever seen a queue for handheld scanners anywhere but Waitrose! Everyone in Waitrose seems to use them, but I've not really seen anyone else use the app.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jan 2026 ==

Aiwa was high-end hi-fi equipment and I have owned a fair few of their products.

Why did Boot's rebrand them?

Possibly to enable them to price as they saw fit, without anyone making comparisons. A bit like Currys and others do today with unique SKUs so you can't price match. The product code might be almost identical but with an added letter or one changed digit, but technically that makes it something else.

The question is, did they sell well? Did people buying audio products want something with Boots on it? I guess audiophiles didn't, but Boots, Argos, WH Smith etc were selling to everyone.

 

[Steddenm]

AIWA are still going strong - https://aiwaeurope.com/

From what I remember the brands Boots used whitelabel on were:

Audio - Aiwa & Sony
Gents Electirc Razors - Remmington
Gents Hair Clippers - Wahl
Ladies Electric Razors - Remmington
Hair Dryers - Remmington & own in house
Batteries - Ever Ready
Film - Kodak
Digital Media - Sony
Cameras and Optics (analog) - Olympus
Cameras and Optics (digital) - Kodak/Fuji

 

[Trackman]

Got it wrong, it was Akai I was talking about. Apologies.

 

[Steddenm]

Got it wrong, it was Akai I was talking about. Apologies.

Boots sold both brands, and some whitelabel, same as John Lewis and Ikea whitegoods are Whirlpool.

 

[jon81uk]

You are making me think - was the main Hi-Fi etc product Boots sold the "Aiwa" brand ?.

The portable casstte player I had was Boots own-brand.
Although I think I later on in the late 90s had an Aiwa hi-fi (bought from Argos or maybe the Gratton catalogue) with a 3 CD changer, MiniDisc and two cassettes, this was great for copying CD tracks to MiniDisc to go into my newer MiniDisc Walkman. Whole thing become obsolete when I got an iPod.

 

[Harpo]

Aiwa hi-fi

Yes. Boots and others did their best to convince that their stuff was ‘high fidelity’ - it was Lou Reed’s Transformer album played on a mate’s dad’s Quad set-up that nailed the lie for me.

 

[Hadders]

The Sainsbury's system seems a bit more efficient as you don't get people crowding around the central terminal, but I suppose it does mean the system can't intelligently allocate handsets based on e.g. state of charge (which would be technically possible; whether it's done in practice anywhere I have no idea)

When smartshop first started at Sainsbury's you'd swipe your Nectar card and the terminal would allocate a handset. The drive to eliminate plastic Nectar cards and move it to an app meant changes had to be made which is why you select a handset and then scan the barcode on your app. Some of the old central terminals still have the card swipe but as far as I know it's deactivated these days.

If a handset is low on battery then the screen is blank and you can't release it fro the central terminal.

Secondly, despite being my first time it didn't call for a rescan. Tesco/Asda/Waitrose seem to insist on a rescan for all first-time users (based on my experience, not any knowledge of their internal policies).

There's an algorithm that determines whether or not you get a rescan. You won't necessarily get one on your first shop (as that's a bit counterproductive from a customer service point of view) but I'd expect you to get one relatively soon!

 

[styles]

Meanwhile, over the past decade market share from Tesco and Sainsbury's, perhaps the two greatest 'loyalty scheme' supermarkets, have flatlined; while Aldi and Lidl have increased. No doubt cost of living is a factor, and indeed Lidl do now have Lidl Plus, but their increase in market share appears to pre-date the introduction of Plus.

I'm sure supermarkets have some fantastic self-serving data suggesting their loyalty schemes are a great success, but I think an over-obsession on them can give a sense of complacency.

 

[DannyMich2018]

Had some spare time earlier so popped into M&S at Fosse Park. Looked at some prices, individual Lemons, Limes, Aubergines, Pears all way more pricey than other supermarkets, own brand sweets well more too, I thought M&S were supposed to be competitive on price?!

 

[bspahh]

Had some spare time earlier so popped into M&S at Fosse Park. Looked at some prices, individual Lemons, Limes, Aubergines, Pears all way more pricey than other supermarkets, own brand sweets well more too, I thought M&S were supposed to be competitive on price?!

M&S have some competitive prices, but only on specific items. For example, you can get 6 free range eggs for £1.50, but the alternatives are over £3. They have some nice cheddar cheese which is quite reasonably priced, for the quality. There are many things that they sell which are less reasonably priced.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I thought M&S were supposed to be competitive on price?!

Not necessarily. Although I'd say the quality of their fresh produce is usually superior than that of most of (all of?) their competitors.

 

[Bald Rick]

I thought M&S were supposed to be competitive on price?!

They are for some things, typically day to day staples like milk, bread, butter etc.

 

[Mojo]

They are for some things, typically day to day staples like milk, bread, butter etc.

Yes I'd agree, I think they're much more competitively priced than Waitrose for example (although have nowhere near as much choice).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jan 2026 ==

Meanwhile, over the past decade market share from Tesco and Sainsbury's, perhaps the two greatest 'loyalty scheme' supermarkets, have flatlined; while Aldi and Lidl have increased. No doubt cost of living is a factor, and indeed Lidl do now have Lidl Plus, but their increase in market share appears to pre-date the introduction of Plus.

I've by and large stopped shopping at Aldi and Lidl about 2 years ago now; they just seem to be far too chaotic and stressful for my liking. I think it helps that the price difference between them and Sainsburys seems to have shrunk.

 

[Bald Rick]

I've by and large stopped shopping at Aldi and Lidl about 2 years ago now; they just seem to be far too chaotic and stressful for my liking. I think it helps that the price difference between them and Sainsburys seems to have shrunk.

I stopped shopping at Aldi in 1992, for much the same reasons.

 

[Harpo]

I think it helps that the price difference between them and Sainsburys seems to have shrunk.

It’s an impression that the big 2 like to give with their very selective price matching to the discounters, but their smoke and mirrors pricing in the rest of their ranges seems undiminished.

 

[sprunt]

It’s an impression that the big 2 like to give with their very selective price matching to the discounters, but their smoke and mirrors pricing in the rest of their ranges seems undiminished.

It's an impression I've formed for myself without the assistance of the big 2 - a few years ago I'd go to Aldi or Lidl and be surprised by how cheap the total was compared to the others, now there's definitely not the same difference, more the same sense of "How much? I only got about five things."

 

[styles]

It's an impression I've formed for myself without the assistance of the big 2 - a few years ago I'd go to Aldi or Lidl and be surprised by how cheap the total was compared to the others, now there's definitely not the same difference, more the same sense of "How much? I only got about five things."

Possibly but, according to Which?, the non-Aldi/Lidl supermarkets are still a minimum of 10% more expensive, even after including loyalty schemes: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/cheapest-supermarket-of-the-month-ag3nQ4J0v6ht

10% may not sound like much but food is usually a person's largest expense after accommodation. Maybe people don't notice 5p on a tin of chopped tomatoes, but they would notice £500 over the course of a year. It's enough to buy a holiday.

 

[gg1]

Just had something which has never happened to me before in the literally hundreds of occasions I've used self scan, at the checkout at my local Tesco I was flagged for a full rescan of my entire shop. Whenever I've been flagged for a random trolley check before I don't remember it ever being for more than half my shop. Has anyone else ever had one of these, all struck me as very odd?

 

[Russel]

Just had something which has never happened to me before in the literally hundreds of occasions I've used self scan, at the checkout at my local Tesco I was flagged for a full rescan of my entire shop. Whenever I've been flagged for a random trolley check before I don't remember it ever being for more than half my shop. Has anyone else ever had one of these, all struck me as very odd?

I had it not long after self scan was introduced, but that was many years ago now.