SEVERAL major supermarkets are making or have already made some big changes this month.
Chains including Aldi and Tesco are among those making the moves.
From price cuts and loyalty scheme changes to popular services being scrapped and special price trials coming in – there's a lot going on.
Some of the changes will no doubt be welcomed by shoppers, while some may be less highly anticipated.
Several chains have slashed prices on grocery staples for example, and others have introduced money saving meal deals.
While others have cut services like click and collect from stores.
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Below we explain out each change which has already or is yet to take place this month.
Aldi click and collect scrapped
Aldi is pulling the plug on click and collect services at 12 of its supermarkets.
A spokesman for Aldi said it had paused click and collect at these stores due to low demand from shoppers.
Aldi's spokesman said shoppers in the areas affected have been contacted about the change.
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The stores no longer offering click and collect are:
- Aylesbury – Rimmington Way
- Brighton – Lewes Road
- Burton on Trent – Horninglow Street
- Coventry – Shultern Lane
- Crawley – Betts Way
- Chelmsford – Clock Tower RP Westway
- Gillingham – Ambley Road
- Kidbrooke – Kidbrooke Park Road
- Kidderminster – Silverwoods Way
- Maidstone – Langley Park Centre
- Oldbury – Wolverhampton Road
- Reading – London Road
Aldi currently has around 200 stores offering the click and collect service.
You can find your nearest branch by using Aldi's store locator tool and a pickup slot costs £4.99.
Aldi Specialbuys no longer online
The budget supermarket chain is closing its online delivery service on July 10, it's confirmed to The Sun.
It comes after we previously revealed that Aldi would pull the plug on its online delivery operation.
The move means that customers will no longer be able to buy cheap wine cases or order Specialbuys to their door.
Shoppers often queue online to snap up Specialbuy bargains, including its heated clothes airer and popular Kevin the Carrot toys.
Its recent huge sales growth has meant the discounter has decided it no longer needs the costs or distractions of an online business.
Milk price drop
A second milk price war was kickstarted last week when Sainsbury's slashed its prices even further.
From 1 July, the supermarket's whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed four-pint milk dropped in price from £1.55 to £1.45.
Its two pint varieties also saw a 5p reduction to £1.20.
Aldi soon followed suit and lowered the price of a four-pint bottle of milk by 10p, to £1.45 down from £1.55.
Two-pint bottles also saw a reduction from £1.25 to £1.20, and six-pint milk dropped in price from £2.30 to £2.15.
Asda is the latest supermarket to slash the price of milk, with a four-pint own-label bottle falling in price by as much as 10p to £1.45.
Milk has also been reduced by 10p at Tesco too, meaning customers will now pay 20p less for a four-pint bottle of milk than they would have in April.
It's only been a few months since the last milk price war which saw Sainsbury's cut the price of the white stuff – making it 10p cheaper before Tesco dropped its prices too.
Then followed Asda, Aldi, M&S and Lidl.
Supermarket meal deals
Asda is making two major changes to its cafes, while Tesco has also brought back a popular deal.
Asda will offer half price adult meals from 3pm every day for the whole summer, The Sun exclusively revealed.
It began on June 30 and will run until September 4 in all 205 Asda Cafés.
This is the first time Asda has offered this deal on its main meals.
Asda is also extending its popular "Kids Eat For £1" scheme by another five months until the end of the year to help cash-strapped mums and dads.
Meanwhile, Tesco will offer its "Kids Eat Free" deal again this summer with the cost of feeding the little ones when the schools break up.
The ever-popular offer means that when a paying adult presents their Clubcard and spends as little as 60p in one of 310 Tesco cafes across the UK, they will get a free kids meal.
The deal will run on weekdays from July 24 to September 1 in England and Wales, from July 3 to September 1 in Northern Ireland.
And in Scotland, the offer will run from July 3 to August 11.
Grocery price cuts
Tesco also announced it has slashed the price of more than 500 key household essentials, including fruit and veg, tuna and rice.
In a bid to help customers reduce the price of their weekly shop hundreds of products that are bought week-in, week-out, will be included in the price drop.
The latest price cut on Tesco Pasta is the second in recent weeks and means customers will pay 20p less for a 500g pack than they would have in May.
Shoppers will see bills for the more than 500 products drop by an average of 13%.
The major supermarket chain said that the drop focuses on products that are brought week-in, week-out, as well as summer favourites and healthy choices.
Here are some examples:
- Tesco Tinned Tuna (145g) – down 10p to 80p
- 3 pack of Peppers – down 15p to £1.65
- Tesco 400g Block Cheddar – down 20p to £3.20
- Tesco Red Grapes – down 20p to £1.80
- Tesco Fusilli Pasta (500g) – down a further 5p to £0.75
- Tesco Easy Cook Long Grain Rice (1kg) – down 35p to £1.25
Meanwhile, Sainsbury's began to roll out reductions on its own-brand items from June 27 – and it's pledged to keep cutting prices throughout the summer.
Goods that will benefit from the price cuts include cupboard staples such as cereal, jam, honey and spaghetti, as well as some meat products.
These include its 300g chicken breast fillets, which will fall from £2.50 to £2.29, while its 640g pack of mini fillets will reduce from £4.95 to £4.43.
A jar of strawberry jam will now be under £1, with the price falling from £1.15 to 99p – the same price as Lidl's own-brand jam.
Comparing prices across different supermarkets is key to bagging the best deal.
Websites such as trolley.co.uk allow you to compare prices of hundreds items at retailers across the UK.
Loyalty scheme changes
The budget supermarket Lidl has shaken up its Coupon Plus scheme to include free bakery items and a 10% off incentive.
Customers will now be entitled to a free in-store bakery item coupon when their monthly qualifying spend reaches £50 in a month.
And shoppers who reach £250 qualifying spend in a month will receive a coupon entitling them to 10% off their next shop.
In addition to this, from July 1, the coupon rewards when shoppers reach a qualifying spend of £100 and £150 a month also changed.
Customers who spend £100 will earn a coupon for any item from the Gelatelli ice cream range.
And those who spend £150 will earn a coupon for any item from the Alesto snack range.
All rewards will be automatically added to the coupon section of the app.
Plus, M&S shoppers who use 49 of the chain's food halls will be able to get cheaper prices as long as they're a Sparks members.
The new initiative follows in the footsteps of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Co-op which already offer loyalty card members cheaper prices.
The new Sparks perk is being trialled in dozens of shops across the UK in South Wales, the West Midlands and the North East of England.
At the moment, deals are being offered on a number of food lines including seasonal favourites such as Barbecue Heroes and Chicken Delux Family Dine In.
Those with a Sparks card who visit participating stores can grab a Barbecue Heroes meal deal for £10 instead of £12.
And the Delux Family Dine In offer is reduced to £13 – down from £15.
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The trial will be running over the next two weeks, according to the retailer.
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