Like it or not, supermarkets are a big part of everyday life for many of us. We were curious to find out your thoughts, so we asked you, and a staggering 36,308 chose to take part in our online supermarket vote.
The vote sparked a lively debate on our website. Some strong opinions were voiced about which supermarket is best for value and best for quality.
We met up with a group of our bloggers, who all had something to say about which supermarkets they love and which they're less keen on. We even met one happy shopper who visits four supermarkets every Saturday, taking him no less than four hours.
Clear winner
Our online vote asked which supermarket you most frequently shop in. The results were broken down into 12 regions and the answers were not the same nationwide. For example, Morrisons came out top in Yorkshire and Humber, the area where the chain first began. Overall, however, there was a clear national winner.
Tesco is the store where the largest number of voters said they shop. A quarter said it was their regular supermarket but Tesco shouldn't reach for the bubbly just yet. They may be the best at getting people through their door, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone loves the experience. 33 per cent of voters who shop at Tesco are very satisfied with the store. Not bad, but the number of Waitrose shoppers who told us they're very satisfied is a rather more impressive 85 per cent.
When you're as big as Tesco, you're bound to provoke strong opinions. When we asked which store, if any, voters would least like to shop in, a lot of you voted for Tesco. In fact, they were neck and neck with Netto. The only supermarket our voters liked to shop in less, was Iceland. Adam Leyland, editor of the Grocer magazine says: "Tesco is the biggest player and so a lot of people love to hate it because it's so powerful. It's got more than 30 per cent of the market but an awful lot of people respect it because it does things so well."
Best value
There's one key area where Tesco is determined to do well but so is its rival Asda. The focus of this competition is price. Both supermarkets have been running adverts on TV and in the press stating that they've lowered more prices than their rivals. However, you said one of them was way ahead of the other. The supermarket that Watchdog voters say is best for value is Asda!
It got 8,806 of the 36,000 votes whereas Tesco got 5,784, a distant second place. This result did not surprise Adam Leyland who says that Asda has "always been focussed on everyday prices."
Best quality
For our voters, quality is just as important as price. When we asked which supermarket has the best quality food, one name stands out. 12,638 people gave top marks to the food at Marks and Spencer. That's 35 per cent of voters, even though just two per cent said they shop there most frequently, suggesting the reputation of M&S for quality food stretches way beyond its everyday customers. Waitrose came second for quality. 29 per cent of our voters said its food was the best, but not in the Northwest where voters reckon the best supermarket food comes from the Co-Op.
Out of the big four, it was Sainsbury's who came top for quality, with twice as many votes as any of Tesco, Morrisons or Asda.
Overall favourite
However, the one all of the supermarkets really want to win is the category of favourite. It has been very close but there is one winner - Waitrose.
This is the order our 36,000 voters put them in:
1) Waitrose/Ocado - 21 per cent
2) Sainsbury's - 19 per cent
3) Tesco - 15 per cent
4) Asda - 14 per cent
5) Morrisons - 10 per cent
6) Marks and Spencer - 9 per cent
Read part one of our supermarket vote results, how we shop and see the full breakdown of the Watchdog vote results.
Supermarket vote - the results
The vote sparked a lively debate on our website. Some strong opinions were voiced about which supermarket is best for value and best for quality.
We met up with a group of our bloggers, who all had something to say about which supermarkets they love and which they're less keen on. We even met one happy shopper who visits four supermarkets every Saturday, taking him no less than four hours.
Clear winner
Our online vote asked which supermarket you most frequently shop in. The results were broken down into 12 regions and the answers were not the same nationwide. For example, Morrisons came out top in Yorkshire and Humber, the area where the chain first began. Overall, however, there was a clear national winner.
Tesco is the store where the largest number of voters said they shop. A quarter said it was their regular supermarket but Tesco shouldn't reach for the bubbly just yet. They may be the best at getting people through their door, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone loves the experience. 33 per cent of voters who shop at Tesco are very satisfied with the store. Not bad, but the number of Waitrose shoppers who told us they're very satisfied is a rather more impressive 85 per cent.
When you're as big as Tesco, you're bound to provoke strong opinions. When we asked which store, if any, voters would least like to shop in, a lot of you voted for Tesco. In fact, they were neck and neck with Netto. The only supermarket our voters liked to shop in less, was Iceland. Adam Leyland, editor of the Grocer magazine says: "Tesco is the biggest player and so a lot of people love to hate it because it's so powerful. It's got more than 30 per cent of the market but an awful lot of people respect it because it does things so well."
Best value
There's one key area where Tesco is determined to do well but so is its rival Asda. The focus of this competition is price. Both supermarkets have been running adverts on TV and in the press stating that they've lowered more prices than their rivals. However, you said one of them was way ahead of the other. The supermarket that Watchdog voters say is best for value is Asda!
It got 8,806 of the 36,000 votes whereas Tesco got 5,784, a distant second place. This result did not surprise Adam Leyland who says that Asda has "always been focussed on everyday prices."
Best quality
For our voters, quality is just as important as price. When we asked which supermarket has the best quality food, one name stands out. 12,638 people gave top marks to the food at Marks and Spencer. That's 35 per cent of voters, even though just two per cent said they shop there most frequently, suggesting the reputation of M&S for quality food stretches way beyond its everyday customers. Waitrose came second for quality. 29 per cent of our voters said its food was the best, but not in the Northwest where voters reckon the best supermarket food comes from the Co-Op.
Out of the big four, it was Sainsbury's who came top for quality, with twice as many votes as any of Tesco, Morrisons or Asda.
Overall favourite
However, the one all of the supermarkets really want to win is the category of favourite. It has been very close but there is one winner - Waitrose.
This is the order our 36,000 voters put them in:
1) Waitrose/Ocado - 21 per cent
2) Sainsbury's - 19 per cent
3) Tesco - 15 per cent
4) Asda - 14 per cent
5) Morrisons - 10 per cent
6) Marks and Spencer - 9 per cent
Read part one of our supermarket vote results, how we shop and see the full breakdown of the Watchdog vote results.
Supermarket vote - the results