The cost of living crisis has changed the buying habits of the British people.
Giles Hurley, Aldi store manager, said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that British people are more than ever looking for cheap products with economic labels.
He predicted that this situation would continue for a long time due to the deep economic problems of England.
Aldi is a German discount store chain that has more than 11,235 branches worldwide. Until last year, Aldi was the fifth largest store chain in England, but over the past year, it has increased the number of its branches and now it has been promoted to the fourth largest store in this country.
According to Aldi’s manager, half of the shopping basket of this store’s customers consists of cheap products with economic labels.
He added that this store has attracted nearly one million customers in the last 12 months and two-thirds of British families buy from this store.
Figures show Aldi tripled last year’s profits thanks to the UK’s cost of living crisis and offering cheap products. This is while other chain stores, including Lidl, which is a type of German discount store and Aldi’s main competitor, have suffered losses.
The prices of Aldi products are on average between 30 and 40% cheaper than other stores, but its manager pointed to the increasing trend of energy and transportation costs and warned that there is no clear outlook for the future.
The fact is that the British economy is in the worst state of the last half-century. The overall inflation rate, which was around 2% before the Corona pandemic, reached 11% last November, and now, despite the government’s promises, it is reported to be around 7%.
By increasing the base interest rate by 500 points, the Bank of England has raised the cost of borrowing to curb inflation. This situation has put significant financial pressure on the mortgage installments of millions of British households, while it is predicted that the interest rate will experience further increases before starting a downward trend and imposing more pressure on the people.
The governor of the Bank of England announced late last year that the country had entered a period of prolonged economic recession. Andrew Bailey announced at a press conference last November that the UK is facing a “very challenging” 2-year recession and that the unemployment rate will nearly double by 2025.
Last week, the UK National Statistics Center announced in a report that the unemployment rate in this country has increased in the shadow of the economic recession and many jobs have been lost in the summer.
According to this report, the unemployment index in England during the three months ending last August was reported as 4.3%, which increased by 0.1% compared to the previous period and by 0.5% compared to the previous 6 months.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sonak recently declared clearly that the people of this country should not expect the government to be the solution to all their problems; In addition, economic challenges will not disappear this year.