back to article Mega supermarket spots stock discrepancy of tens of millions amid ERP system migration

Asda, the UK's third largest retailer, discovered a multi-million pound discrepancy between its distribution system and SAP ERP tech installed earlier this year, according to an internal "major incident" report seen by The Register. Asda migrated from the legacy SAP system run by former owner Walmart to a new instance of S/ …

  1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "a minor discrepancy"

    Man do I wish I could label $10 million as a "minor discrepancy" in my accounting !

    1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

      Re: "a minor discrepancy"

      When your turnover is $24,000,000,000, then $10,000,000 is 0.04% of revenue, it's barely a rounding error

      1. SVD_NL Silver badge

        Re: "a minor discrepancy"

        I bet that figure is dwarfed by losses due to retail theft.

        It's going to be interesting to figure out why there's a small discrepancy between the two systems for the sake of software integrity, but from a business perspective it's nothing to lose sleep over.

        1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

          Re: "a minor discrepancy"

          The larger stores will probably lose £10k a week to shoplifting, that's half a million a year each store.

          My local co-op has just had to order more shopping baskets, because the shoplifters steal the baskets to transport their stolen food.

          1. Irongut Silver badge

            Re: "a minor discrepancy"

            > My local co-op has just had to order more shopping baskets, because the shoplifters steal the baskets to transport their stolen food.

            I'm calling bullshit on this. I shop in a Co-Op every day, how the hell do you walk out past the security guard with a shopping basket under your jacket?

            My lodger, who is a security guard, also says you're talking shite.

            1. tiggity Silver badge

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              @IronGut

              At neither of my 2 nearest co-ops is there a security guard.

              In fact very few stores, whatever the retailer, in the 2 nearest towns to me have a security guard

              (none of my regular stores do, a couple I visit occasionally do, not aware of any beyond those 2 with guards ).

              So maybe your assumption that every store has security guard(s) is based on your local stores but does not extrapolate to all stores around the UK.

              1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

                Re: "a minor discrepancy"

                Speaking to an Aldi manger last year about why they now had a security guard, he told me it's head office decision based on number and types of thefts and weighted by assaults (physical and verbal) on staff. So yeah, it depends where you are. I travel a lot and often stop off at a supermarket[*] for a sandwich/pie/pasty/whatever and have noticed large town/city branches almost always have security at the front entrance whereas the more rural ones, small market towns etc, don't, even though the shop is just as big. Not always, but seems to be a good rule of thumb.

                * hey, I know, but easy to find and free parking and I'd rather spend my break relaxing, not wandering around a strange town trying to find a decent sandwich shop or bakers. Supermarket fare is usually "good enough" :-)

                1. YetAnotherLocksmith

                  Re: "a minor discrepancy"

                  Both Lidl and Sainsbury's here have tightened their security recently. The Lidl isn't huge, but doesn't have the double entry/exit doors that they commonly have. Lidl added a security guard a while back. Sainsbury has just added automatic gates, and has had security guards for years.

                  I can see people stealing the basket occasionally. Probably those using distraction - someone kicks off, they nip out the door with the unpaid basket. Trolleys disperse themselves all the time, and they're way bigger!

              2. LybsterRoy Silver badge

                Re: "a minor discrepancy"

                Fully agree. Up here in the Highlands there are two Co-Ops neither has a security guard. Tesco in Wick used to in their superstore but he vanished along with his workstation some years ago.

              3. TeeCee Gold badge
                Meh

                Re: "a minor discrepancy"

                At neither of my 2 nearest co-ops is there a security guard.

                That's probably why the scumbags go there to nick the baskets then.

            2. Handlebars

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              Security at Tesco stopped me taking a basket out to my car when I forgot to bring bags.

            3. werdsmith Silver badge

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              I'm calling bullshit on this

              I'm going to add that the baskets in the shops near me all have a tag on that will set off the exit sensors. Must be a reason for that.

            4. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              I'm guessing you don't shop in the same Co-op as me, because my local Co-op doesn't have a security guard most of the week

              Your experience is not necessarily the same as anyone elses. Think about that before pulling the bullshit card

            5. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              If your Co-Op has a security guard, that means they think that without that guard they'll lose more than in theft than it costs to employ that guard. Or staff will face violence that they need a professional to deal with immediately.

              In less theft-prone areas of the country, these aren't required.

          2. Justthefacts Silver badge

            Re: "a minor discrepancy"

            Average store turnover is ~100-200k per week, depending on size and location obviously. 10k loss = 5% is a large over-estimate even for the largest stores. They call it “retail shrinkage” which includes all discrepancies - customer theft; employee & logistics chain theft (traditionally higher than customer theft, they’d prefer you didn’t know that); returns fraud; breakage; admin errors. And you’re looking at 1.5%ish for that total. Of course, that average will include some stores supporting a one-man crime wave.

            1. Lazlo Woodbine Silver badge

              Re: "a minor discrepancy"

              My £10k a week is based on losses I've seen at Asda, not the Co-Op. A big Asda will easily clear £2m a week takings...

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: "a minor discrepancy"

                £10k a week at a coop would probably only be a couple of trolly loads, robbing b'stards that they are!

  2. PM.

    Just slap fines on store managers ..

    .. amounting to 21 million pound in total, and all will be well !

    1. Richard Jones 1
      Unhappy

      Re: Just slap fines on store managers ..

      Is that not the Post Office Horizon way?

      1. PM.

        Re: Just slap fines on store managers ..

        It worked, didn't it.. :-(

      2. CountCadaver Silver badge

        Re: Just slap fines on store managers ..

        Soon to be the DWP solution given Sturmer has given them control of investigations, only a matter of time before he hands them the full police powers they have been lobbying hard for....

        (After that the CPS will be cut out and then specialist "benefit fraud courts" staffed of course by those handpicked by the DWP, the govt has of course learned from the horizon scandal....this time they will make sure no one can prove they aren't guilty....)

  3. Pete 2 Silver badge

    TLDR version

    a mismatch of approximately £21 million

    The retailer's annual revenue is around £24 billion

    a minor discrepancy ... had no financial or operational impact whatsoever."

    1. Tron Silver badge

      Re: TLDR version

      If £21m is a minor discrepancy ... with ... no financial or operational impact whatsoever, they can pay their workforce an extra £21m and not so much as notice.

      1. G Watty What?
        Meh

        Re: TLDR version

        £21m across their reported 145,000 employees works out at an extra £144.83 per person per year. Or £12.07 per month before tax.

        Not quite retirement money but welcome I am sure.

      2. Pete 2 Silver badge

        Re: TLDR version

        The article does not say whether the mismatch, or discrepancy, favoured the company, or would count as a loss.

        Would you be so quick to suggest that amount (which doesn't actually exist, either way) should be docked from the employees if it was a write-down?

        It is only relevant to the accountants who have to sign off on the company's annual accounts. So they can offer a true report.

  4. Vestas

    That's not the half of it....

    The company is drowning in debt, the idiot brothers who bought it are having some sort of family feud, the asset strippers (TDR) have majority control now and they can't recruit a CEO regardless of how much money is on offer.

    They've had to get the 75 year old (mainly retired) ex-CEO of M&S to take over from moron #1 (Mohsin Issa) on a temporary basis until someone can be persuaded to be the whipping boy (CEO). Issa can't be left in charge because he's clueless.

    If anyone has been in one of their larger supermarkets then they can't have failed to notice the epically long queues at the self-scan checkouts and perhaps one in ten tills actually open (but often broken - card readers). Add to that the chaotic supply of product to the shop floor, not very attractive pricing (in-store & fuel station) and they're fucked for the busiest time of the year.

    That's what you get when two idiots borrow shitloads of money from asset strippers to buy a business they know ZERO about. If Walmart couldn't make a decent return on capital with Asda over three decades then two wide boys were always going to crash and burn.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's not the half of it....

      The Competition Commission should have let Sainsbury's take over Asda - the former spent many millions on investigating on how to merge the IT systems before the buyout was stopped.

      1. David Hicklin Bronze badge

        Re: That's not the half of it....

        >> The Competition Commission should have let Sainsbury's take over Asda

        That was one of the most stupid of ideas ever floated...and the Sainsbury's boss quite rightly had to fall on his own sword for it

        1. Like a badger

          Re: That's not the half of it....

          Indeed. Look at the pig's ear Sainsburys made when the morons bought Argos. Within a few short years they'd closed most of the Argos stores, the in-Sainsbury kiosks never properly took off because Sainsbury knew jack shit about the need to have stock available on the day, something Argos were very good at.

          Argos were close to being a capable Amazon competitor, after Bungleburys took charge they're now just a faded brand that offers nothing.

    2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: That's not the half of it....

      Have a beer for that summary.

    3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: That's not the half of it....

      Loading debt onto a company that's been well-run before you buy it, can be a very successful strategy. Not for the company mind, but for you. You burn the fat, and a bit of the muscle, that the previous management had built up, use profits, maintenance budget and money for future investment to pay off the most expensive of the debt - and then sell the remains onto someone else saying how profitable it is and how you've "turned the company around". They then get the problem of dealing with all the systems that are now creaking due to lack of maintenance/investment - and the probably very low staff morale and high staff turnover.

      The problem is that I think Walmart had been disappointed in their Asda purchase - and rather than investing in it to have a go at dominating the market (like they do in the US) - I think they just decided to run it for profit until they could find a buyer to dump it on. So there probably wasn't much to cut. Worse, the IT was probably quite good, because Walmare were just using their own US systems - but building an entirely new IT system from scratch is basically a nightmare for retail.

      The IT outsourcing fuckup was what knocked Sainsbury's off the top spot in the 90s, and left Tesco as top dog. Sainsbury's outsourcing was so bad, that only two years after they had to bring the whole thing back in house again - a friend was working for Computer Associates at the time and his colleague made his year's sales target (4 times over) in Q1 by just on Sainsbury's.

      Retail chains are like banks. They live and die by their IT. But management probably spend most of their time thinking about their product offer - and senior management either come from store operations, buying or finance. IT is tacked on, and too often outsourced. When I worked for a medium retail chain our entire POS and stock control mainframe team were contractors. We had literally no in-house knowledge of our most vital systems. Our MDs were a buyer (very good) and a finance guy we hired in from Tesco (not so good).

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: That's not the half of it....

        > “Retail chains are like banks. They live and die by their IT. But management probably spend most of their time thinking about their product offer - and senior management either come from store operations, buying or finance. IT is tacked on, and too often outsourced.”

        I forget when it was observed that the major supermarkets were effectively banks with a retail operation, due to them using the (retail) revenues to play the overnight markets and operate banking services (the interest on your savings account was effectively a slice of the profits from the tills).

        Then things progressed and at some point it was stated most businesses were IT operations with a xyz banking/retail operation attached. As you note few in management appreciate the shift and still think IT merely supports the business rather than enables the business, until the IT goes offline…

        What is notable is that so far this year: Tesco’s have sold their banking operation to Barclays, and Sainsbury’s to NatWest.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

          Re: That's not the half of it....

          Roland6,

          Back in the day (early 90s) the top UK Supermarkets were making something like 6% net margin on sales. Which was higher than basically any other supermarkets in the world. Tesco and Sainsbury in particular were making money hand-over-fist. M&S were still doing incredibly well in both clothes and food and life was good. Also the big supermarkets were paying some of their suppliers on a 6 monthly basis. Not the big companies obviously, but if you were a farmer selling direct to Sainsbury/Tesco you raised your invoices whenever and got paid in July or January.

          So the supermarkets were absolutely drowning in cash! They had so much cash on hand, they didn't known what to do with it. And went into banking and insurance. Plus they were making nice money on the overnight markets. After 2007, with low interest rates, banks losing trust in each other and then having to hold more assets - the overnight money market stopped being much of a cash generator. The government banned the predatory payment practises of the only paying twice a year thing sometime in the 2000s as well.

          Finally Lidl and Aldi hit the UK market and I think the average net margin for the supermarkets is down to the 1-2% it is in other markets. I didn't realise they'd sold their banking arms, but it makes sense.

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: That's not the half of it....

            "Also the big supermarkets were paying some of their suppliers on a 6 monthly basis."

            Not just that. A former colleague went into a wholesale booze supplier. He said one big supermarket - may have been the one in question - would have them send a load of stock and then just take delivery of what they needed. The supermarkets had so much purchasing power that they could get away with this sort of stuff.

          2. YetAnotherLocksmith

            Re: That's not the half of it....

            The biggest deflation of UK supermarket prices was the arrival of the German supermarkets!

            It's almost funny how the UK ones bang on about price matching the German ones, endlessly, now.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: That's not the half of it....

              "It's almost funny how the UK ones bang on about price matching the German ones, endlessly, now."

              But usually the quality of the Aldi/Lidl product is substantially better than the adulterated crap that Tescorriburys price down and claim a price match on. Whilst that's been obvious for years (except for the dim) a recent Panorama programme confirmed it.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's not the half of it....

        The Sainsbury's outsourcing to Accenture ran from 2000 and was cancelled in 2005.

        Posting anonymously for... reasons, a lot of the budget seems to have been spent on lavish Xmas parties with free roulette games, vodka luges etc)

    4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: That's not the half of it....

      "That's what you get when two idiots borrow shitloads of money from asset strippers to buy a business they know ZERO about. If Walmart couldn't make a decent return on capital with Asda over three decades then two wide boys were always going to crash and burn."

      You may well be right about the current owners, but Walmart keep trying and failing to succeed outside of their home market. It seems they just don't "get" local culture in other countries. They seem to be operating in a number of US "client" states in Central and South America and a very few countries outside of that region, but have failed to take on anywhere in Europe and succeed, despite trying a few times It looks like they do ok in India, China and Africa, but they have bought into and partnered with existing businesses, not just steamed in "took over". Maybe they are learning after all?

      1. Vestas

        Re: That's not the half of it....

        IMHO Walmart sold because of the equal pay claims they've been fighting for nearly two decades.

        They had a higher profit margin than Tesco for most of their ownership period of Asda (28 years or so?) and didn't really change anything from a customer perspective. Staff perspective, sure, but to the average shopper nothing much changed when Walmart bought Asda....

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's not the half of it....

        "Walmart keep trying and failing to succeed outside of their home market. It seems they just don't "get" local culture in other countries"

        Common of most international M&A, like when European companies go into the US, or US companies go into Europe. Or when Ozzies go shopping abroad - as evidenced by the spectacular Bunnings/Homebase disaster.

        1. CountCadaver Silver badge

          Re: That's not the half of it....

          Thing is Bunnings were starting to get traction, I know plenty of fellow tradespeople who had been in for a look and came out impressed as hell, particularly their largest stores.

          Then the carpetbaggers SCREAMED for inflated figures, management got cold feet and well the rest was history.....now homebase is back to selling the same overpriced shite it always did....

    5. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: That's not the half of it....

      they can't have failed to notice the epically long queues at the self-scan checkouts and perhaps one in ten tills actually open

      No. Have an ASDA superstore nearby, a big one with a Decathlon attached and it's busy but we normally waltz straight up to a pay terminal, no queue.

      I agree the shelf stocking is not so good since the buyout, and the pricing is less competitive.

  5. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    So-poor-markets

    What grinds my wheels is that it's rarely possible to buy everything you need in one supermarket.

    One has organic carrots, but doesn't have organic kale, the other has organic kale, but doesn't have carrots and the two don't have organic avocados, so you have to go to third one. The all three on the other hand don't stock spelt sourdough bread, so you gotta go to fourth etc.

    Supermarkets were supposed to solve going to dozens stores to get your groceries and now you have to go to dozens supermarkets.

    Oh and the amount of inedible crap they all stock. So much waste.

    1. Natalie Gritpants Jr

      Re: So-poor-markets

      First mistake - kale. Second mistake - not living in Brighton

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So-poor-markets

        Kale is fine for what it is. Sure, it's not a flavour explosion but it's a simple leafy veg, you can't expect a lot of it.

      2. herman Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        First mistake: Organic

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So-poor-markets

      get an allotment for 50p a week and grow your kale, carrots, etc

      1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        That's not the same. In large town the air quality is not suitable, you don't know how contaminated is the soil and you have no guarantee that your neighbour is not going to spray their plants and contaminate yours. Basically you cannot control the environment to the organic standard.

        Allotment is more about going out and proving yourself that you can sustain a patch of vegetables than something practical.

        1. YetAnotherLocksmith

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Combine that with the 4+ year waits I've heard about for a space, and you might go hungry.

        2. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Plenty of people turning loads of decent veg in allotments.

          I do the same, but on my own land. I basically have to grow enough that the wildlife can have its share but there's enough left over for me.

          1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

            Re: So-poor-markets

            and how many send vegetable samples to lab for testing for heavy metals and other substances?

            1. werdsmith Silver badge

              Re: So-poor-markets

              I expect a few that have forgotten to take their meds for paranoia.

              The history of the land is well known.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So-poor-markets

          That's not the same. In large town the air quality is not suitable, you don't know how contaminated is the soil and you have no guarantee that your neighbour is not going to spray their plants and contaminate yours

          But you'll believe the shysters who run Asda, Morrisons etc to be entirely open and honest about the origin of the food? "Look, it's got a Soil Association label, that PROVES it's pure and organic".

          And if you want to mutter on about supply chain assurance and trading standards, then I've got some Findus Organic Beef* Lasagne to sell you.

          * Guaranteed real, British organic beef. Maybe a little Romanian donkey, horse and murder victim in the mix, but only to add flavour you understand, and entirely within permitted limits.

        4. Roland6 Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Depending on what the contaminant is, it may be outside the Soil Association organic certification requirement - which focuses more on what you do and do not apply to the crop; remember basically land is deemed “organic” after no pesticide or chemical fertiliser has been applied for three years.

          Air quality doesn’t seem to factor in the Soil Association’s criteria…

      2. Tron Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        Allotments are in short supply, councils are flogging them off where they can as they are skint since Sterling collapsed and every third schoolkid got a special needs requirement. You also have to be able to get to them and work them around your job, and hope they don't get vandalised and your crops don't get nicked. And then if you sort all that, the weather wipes out half your harvest.

        Even with a large allotment/garden and decent weather, you will struggle to be better than self-sufficient in some specific crops for a few months. It can be difficult/costly in terms of cash and space to process/store crops when they are ripe, domestically. And you stand little chance of producing much in the way of exotics without an expensively heated greenhouse.

        Your best chance is to go for apple and pear trees on dwarf rooting stocks (birds will strip cherry trees and most berry bushes without a fruit cage). Runner/Dwarf French beans are reliable and easy. Tomatoes. Corn in a good year. Onions. Yes, kale, especially 'tree kale'. Courgettes are easy enough. You may lose root crops, strawberries and brassicas to the local wildlife. If you want to give peas a chance, you'll need to grow a heck of a lot of them for a decent harvest.

        Any degree of self sufficiency is tough and you soon learn to respect farmers, who get screwed by the supermarkets, the weather and the government. For many, losing viable access to migrant workers was the final straw. More are choosing plan B now: selling up, solar panels or a rewilding grant.

        Where I live, so many things have simply vanished from the supermarkets since Brexit. Processed food products and ordinary produce. It's a lottery if what you want is there. UK supermarkets used to be a joy to shop in. They have really declined in just a few years. Maybe all the good stuff goes to the SE of England. Or Ocado.

        1. Like a badger

          Re: So-poor-markets

          "Yes, kale, especially 'tree kale'."

          That's sycamore leaves, right?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So-poor-markets

      Get you with the organic kale and organic avocados. Why don't you send your butler?

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        You uncultured swine!

        The butler looks after the wine, they have no idea what shade of kale the cook requires.

        One must send the kitchen boy, and feed them to the spit dog if they make a mistake.

        1. Ken Shabby Bronze badge
          Facepalm

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Surely that is the second undergardener’s job. My gentleman’s informs me.

    4. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: So-poor-markets

      And what about your carbon footprint travelling to all these supermarkets

      icon: melting ice sheet

      1. Korev Silver badge
        Childcatcher

        Re: So-poor-markets

        Maybe just cycle or walk to them?

        1. druck Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Shopping for one, at least 3 times a week then.

    5. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: So-poor-markets

      The supermarkets can't fill every niche. They all sell carrots, avocado and I presume kale - though I've never looked for it. But they're only going to sell organic if there's enough demand for it. And even though they're big, they still don't have infinite room. However the range is still amazing, you can get loads of ingredients for cooking Chinese, Thai, Indian, Easter European food that you had to go to specialist shops for 20 years ago. My recent experiences of shopping in the US, France and Belgium is that you don't get anything like the range you can in the UK.

      Although, sadly, Tesco and Sainsbury's have trimmed their ranges recently. It's one of Lidl and Aldi's secrets to being cheaper, have a dramatically smaller range of goods, and thus have simpler and cheaper logistics. And the competition have clearly cut some products in order to cut costs.

      In my days in retail we were obsessed with not having missing products. We would even bill suppliers if they couldn't fulfill agreed orders and we went out of stock. the theory being that someone comes in fro something specific - it's not there, so they simply dump everything else and go to another shop to get it - and the rest of their stuff. Lidl and Aldi work on the principal that this won't happen - people will just add what they couldn't get to the list of things they need to get next time - or later somewhere else. Who am I to argue - my retailer is out of business - they pulled out of Europe and only operate in the US - Lidl and Aldi are a significant percentage of the UK market.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So-poor-markets

        Lidl and Aldi were formed on hard discounting for all but it seems looking through their latest brochures they're slowly becoming just as the rest.

        Wall-to-wall general tat and few, if any discounted prices or offers on food.

        Lidl also now appear to be taking the tactic others are going, by having what few discounts they have exclusive to people that download more crap onto their phone, you need their loyalty app in order to avail yourself of the offer.

        I don't understand those people that dump everything because one item isn't there, the time you have spent is therefore wasted in the shop.

        1. Irongut Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          If I leave a supermarket unable to make dinner with the contents of my shopping bag then the time is wasted anyway plus I'm hungry. Better to waste it and still get dinner from another shop.

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: So-poor-markets

            If I leave a supermarket unable to make dinner with the contents of my shopping bag then the time is wasted anyway plus I'm hungry. Better to waste it and still get dinner from another shop.

            Surely this is when you pick the option of making a different dinner with ingredients the shop do have? I guess it also depends on how far away the alternative is.

            I've got a Lidl at the end of my road, so it's an obvious choice for shopping trips. Even though its bakery department is often totally empty by mid-afternoon. The bakery products are excellent - but they've clearly made a decision to have almost no shrinkage (throwing away unused product at the end fo the day) in favour of losing sales. I'll regularly go in there and find several of the things I want missing.

            So if there was another shop nearby I'd cut and run. However I don't drive, so I tend to do one shop in a more reliable supermarket on my way home from work and then go to Lidl to pick up extras. If they weren't at the end of my road, I wouldn't use them. Aldi seem to be more reliable about stocking their regular products (and their booze is generally excellent) - but they have an even more limited range than Lidl. Also the bastards stopped doing the 70% cocoa dark chocolate bars with cherry and chilli - and I'm still sad about that.

            1. tiggity Silver badge

              Re: So-poor-markets

              I often do main weekly shop at Lidl, as they are cheaper than other shops (despite so called price matching - stares at Morrisons when I expensively shopped there a couple of weeks ago ) & manage to get most stuff on my shopping list (though I do go at 8AM on a Saturday morning so no chance for them to sell out of stuff, only stock issue is if they are running late on shelf filling due to late lorries!). Caveat is I know they do not stock some more obscure items, so they are never added on my "Lidl list" & so do occasionally visit other shop(s) to get those (but they are generally non food items e.g. dishwasher salt as for some odd reason nearest Lidl stopped selling that).

              Advantage is I'm not too fussy (I get organic food if they have it, but its not a deal breaker when I have to get some non-organic fruit & veg).

              Not bothered by brand names (e.g. the Lidl washing machine pods do an acceptable job of cleaning so it's not an issue I cannot get Persil or whatever)

              I also do not buy meat, so that simplifies things, as partner veggie (on the rare occasions I do (a rare treat for me when partner away) I go to a proper butchers not a supermarket).

              As we cook most meals from scratch, then any shop that sells basic veg, fruit, and various "dry" carbs (e.g. rice, pasta etc.) will do the job. Though I would prefer a bit wider range of foods & less "middle of Lidl" tat (e.g. its bound to be full of Halloween costume & similar junk this weekend)

              BTW Agree on good bakery section.

              1. LybsterRoy Silver badge

                Re: So-poor-markets

                Lidl do seem to struggle with the "complementary product" concept. As an occasional involuntary DIYer I like the Parkside power tools - reasonable quality, reasonable price - and I'd been on the lookout for a 20V circulat saw to replaced my corded one. Finally I spotted them, bought one BUT I'm still waiting for the 20V batteries to come into stock :(

                1. ske1fr
                  Holmes

                  Re: So-poor-markets

                  Yes, the cordless tools are good value but the availability of the matching batteries is suspect. Keep looking, and make sure you ask at the checkout, because the smaller 'portable' items tend to be kept in the office.

            2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

              Re: So-poor-markets

              "I've got a Lidl at the end of my road...So if there was another shop nearby I'd cut and run."

              I'm lucky in that although there's an Aldi and small ASDA at the end of the road, just a couple of miles further on there's an Aldi and Lidl right next door to each other. I find I can get most of what i want between the two and on the way back there's some more very nice "specialist" shops like bakers, butchers etc who are very good. I have no issues with buying from where I get the best value (and I don't necessarily mean cheapest), and certainly for "every day" stuff, price comparing between Aldi and Lidl is useful, you soon get a "feel" for the prices if you go every week. Sometimes I even get all the way down to Morrison's for a few items I've not been able to locate elsewhere (The cat won't eat the cheap stuff from Aldi/Lidl, has to be Whiskers or Felix!!). I've been in "hypermarket" sized places, there's a huge ASDA not too far away and a huge Tescos a similar distance the other way, but despite their huge range of products, I don't think I've ever found everything I want in one shop. As you say, for those who want to get everything in one shop, you have to decide if they have what you can use, rather than what you actually want and change your expectations.

              1. Ken Shabby Bronze badge

                Re: So-poor-markets

                My cat blackmails me too “You want me to die, because you are a cheap bastard?”, discussion about his feral mates eating baked beans is none negotiable

            3. LybsterRoy Silver badge

              Re: So-poor-markets - lack of dark chocolate

              -- the 70% cocoa dark chocolate bars with cherry and chilli --

              I'm a lover of dark chocolate (initiated on Terry's bitter dessert chocolate) and struggle to find products. My current quest is for a dark dringing chocolate that's not loaded with sugar (I'm diabetic)

              1. Roland6 Silver badge

                Re: So-poor-markets - lack of dark chocolate

                > My current quest is for a dark dringing chocolate that's not loaded with sugar

                Any drinking chocolate that’s not loaded with sugar/carbohydrates would be a good start.

                I laugh you can have your coffee with a dozen types of dairy and non-dairy milk, but hot chocolate is always with excessive sugar…

                1. the spectacularly refined chap Silver badge

                  Re: So-poor-markets - lack of dark chocolate

                  You do realise that chocolate is itself a carbohydrate don't you?

        2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          "I don't understand those people that dump everything because one item isn't there"

          I have, on occasion, dumped everything due to poor service. I'm not going to get the time back if I stay; it's a sunk cost and I don't intend to waste more of it to the further detriment of my blood pressure.

        3. Roj Blake Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          If people don't sign up for the loyalty card, how else will they make money from selling customer data?

          1. mirachu Bronze badge

            Re: So-poor-markets

            The chain I use has 1) a supermarket that's literally the second closest grocery store to me at an exhausting 300 meters away, and 2) does banking services, and the ones I need are free if you're a member of the co-op.

            Yes, they can have my info. I just want to minimize direct cost to myself because I'm poor. Funnily enough, they aren't being annoying about marketing either.

      2. Irongut Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        > dump everything else and go to another shop

        I have been known to do this but it does require the supermarket being out of stock of so many things I get frustrated enough to walk to another shop.

        Funnily enough I have done this in ASDA several times, leaving my half full trolley behind.

        1. YetAnotherLocksmith

          Re: So-poor-markets

          I'm far more likely to rage quit the shop if there's no customer service (which usually means, why are there no tills open? Or only 1 staff to sort 35 self checkouts?) than if there's no single item.

        2. SCP

          Re: So-poor-markets

          I have on occassion dumped my shopping when I have become totally fed up with hunting for items after one of their "let's move stuff to different aisles for shits and giggles" events.

          On other occassions, when I have time on my hands, I have one of the supervisor staff to repeatedly ask where items are. I noted on a recent occassion that the local Tesco had left placards around saying where the item that used to be there could now be found - but that is probably in response to wider customer griping.

    6. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: So-poor-markets

      I always buy vegan tomatoes and asbestos-free cereal.

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Flame

        Re: So-poor-markets

        asbestos-free cereal.

        Gene Cash,

        Miserable coward! Real Men™ have Cheeribestos - the finest fireproofing mixed with honey, wheat and fortified with 6 vitamins and iron. The breakfast cereal that guarantess you'll never catch fire after eating it.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: So-poor-markets

          I find the iron a bit tough to chew.

          1. LybsterRoy Silver badge

            Re: So-poor-markets

            -- I find the iron a bit tough to chew. --

            You doen't chew Irn-Bru

          2. Korev Silver badge
            Coat

            Re: So-poor-markets

            > I find the iron a bit tough to chew.

            You'd probably have more luck using it on your clothes...

        2. YetAnotherLocksmith

          Re: So-poor-markets

          Makes life hard for the cremation team!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So-poor-markets

        yeah those vegans don't like the beef tomato

    7. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: So-poor-markets

      First world problem.

    8. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So-poor-markets

      "What grinds my wheels is that it's rarely possible to buy everything you need in one supermarket."

      In Germany people seem to buy things in supermarkets mainly based on price (sometimes on quality) and, to achieve that, they routinely shop in multiple supermarkets, so a person might for example do the main part of their weekly shop at ALDI (North or South company, depending on where they live) or LIDL but then buy meat from REVE and buy fresh vegetables from Edeka and something else from Real.

      I always wondered *why*! If you factor in any travel costs (i.e. petrol and car wear-and-tear) and time costs (of lost "free time") of routinely shopping in 3 or 4 supermarkets then any price "savings" would be lost once those other costs are factored in.

      Side note: both ALDI and LIDL are Germany-originated supermarkets, and the ALDI North/South split is a classic example of German family feuds (like Adidas/Puma).

      1. Malcolm 5

        Re: So-poor-markets

        I think it depends where the shops are, I have an Aldi fiver minutes walk from home, and full sized Tesco five minutes walk from the office, if I can choose which day I shop I got to the best supermarket for that item

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So-poor-markets

          I have a Lidl literally across the walkway from my preferred chain, so I often go to both on the same trip.

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        I always wondered *why*! If you factor in any travel costs (i.e. petrol and car wear-and-tear) and time costs (of lost "free time") of routinely shopping in 3 or 4 supermarkets then any price "savings" would be lost once those other costs are factored in.

        There's no travel costs if you walk to the supermarket. In my case I've got a Lidl 5 minutes from home, and 3 supermarkets within ten minutes of work. But then I don't drive anyway, so if I buy more than 2-3 bags (3 if I've bought a shoulder bag / backpack) then I'm getting a taxi home anyway. So a trip to Tesco for 2 bags on the way home means I'm not going out of my way - and it's just how much time I spend buying stuff. I basically do one shop a week buying stuff, and then pop into another shop to get a few bits in a more targetted raid*.

        So it's cheaper for me to do multiple shops and walk. Plus I'm a fussy bugger, and can stock up on the things I like that only one shop does. Fresh clementine juice from Morrisons, the best raspberry sorbet from Aldi, Sainsbury's Red Label tea, and their own brand wine gums.

        Surely if you drive everywhere, it's not too much of a detour to pop into a shop on the way home from somewhere and grab whatever bits you couldn't get in your main shiop.

        *You send the sniper team to the fruit section - where they have a good overview of the whole shop. Flank guard to the checkout, to hold a self-scan machine free. Deploy landmines in the bakery aisle - you need to maintain control of all the cakes. Then the trolley-mounted cavalry make a charge for the milk (always hiding at the back of the shop).

    9. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: So-poor-markets

      I do not get the 7 down votes for facts.

      So have my upvote.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: So-poor-markets

        It's still a 1st world privilege problem to complain about a lack of choice of orgenic premium products when much of the world has damn-all choice of the basics.

    10. David Hicklin Bronze badge

      Re: So-poor-markets

      >> What grinds my wheels is that it's rarely possible to buy everything you need in one supermarket.

      The range of choice has also reduced since Covid, I suspect the big supermarkets took the shortages as an opportunity to vastly reduce the number of different lines they stock of basically the same item.

  6. RSW

    $10m

    That's a fair few tins of beans

    1. Natalie Gritpants Jr

      Re: $10m

      At the self checkout select Bananas, dial up to 6, then put your giant jar of Nutella in the bagging area

      1. seven of five Silver badge

        Re: $10m

        Nutella? Yuck! Since Wander was bought by ABF, Caotina (and Ovomaltine) should be available to you. You may proceed from there.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Unhappy

          Re: $10m

          Nutella. The stuff was invented during the war, when chocolate was no longer available. The war's over grandad. You can have chocolate now. It reminds me though.

          Q. What has a hazlenut in every bite?

          A. Squirrel shit!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: $10m

            Yeah well, things aren't looking too good for chocolate.

    2. anon45678
      Pint

      Re: $10m

      I lived through the Baked Bean Wars, when supermarkets would PAY you to take tins of beans off the shelves. I think I got most of my nutrition as a student from them, probably explaining my grades.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: supermarkets would PAY you to take ...

        Once this literally happened to me. I was buying some reduced-price minces pies, which were also on a 3-for-2. So the till charged me the appropriately reduced price for the three discounted packs, and then also subtracted the usual 3f2 saving - i.e. the full price of one pack. I think I was paid about 19p per pack, and not only that, they were Heston mince pies as well. :-D

        Didn't happen again, mind you. :-/

        1. katrinab Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: supermarkets would PAY you to take ...

          Sainsburys used to do that. It was a very good way to get ulta-cheap shopping back in the day. I did always make sure to add sufficient other stuff to the basket to ensure a +ve final bill.

          Now I think if it is reduced to clear, that over-rides the multibuy offer.

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: supermarkets would PAY you to take ...

          I've seen the opposite, many times. An item on the "nearly out of date" shelf marked down by about 20% and the discount sticker states "Other offers not valid" while the fresh stuff with plenty of life left on it is being sold as BOGOF or 3 for 2 etc making that cheaper than the "quick sale while still fresh" item. I've also seen "mistakes" where there's a big promotion sticker for "buy 2 for £2" and the smaller everyday price label next to it has a per item price of 95p (pro tip: if you want two in that situation, go through the self-service till and leave one item back and run that through separately after paying for the main batch of shopping or it'll charge the higher "offer" price :-)

      2. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
        Windows

        Re: $10m

        Them were the good old days... when you could make a tesco's value pizza last all week. mostly by saying "I must find some real food or its that bloody pizza"

        But they were good them days... walking 12 miles to study in a freezing cold classroom.. followed by 8 hours down t' pit before walking 'ome again.

      3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: $10m

        "I lived through the Baked Bean Wars,"

        I remember the EU "butter mountain" too. Cheap butter for a while. I don't remember anything similar happening with the "wine lake" though :-(

  7. Nifty

    Echoes of the Post Office scandal here. That there was a discrepancy is one thing. It's the direction of the discrepancy that's interesting. If a system was being randomly inaccurate due to data entry and software logic errors, you could reasonably expect that the errors would sort out of balance out. With the PO the errors were seemingly consistently adverse to the PO branch managers. How is it with Asda? Let me guess, Asda stock has disappeared. Let me speculate: There is such a thing as the perfect crime.

    1. YetAnotherLocksmith

      If they're quick, they might catch them before they've eaten the evidence!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sap manhattan not surprised

    Working on another manhattan active system deployment and not surprised with the kind of issues. I haven’t dealt with more unethical, complacent and shoddy consulting team in my career. Kids fresh out of school have been deployed for stabilization at 300$ consulting hour and they have no clue and no plan for fixing anything from an implementation standpoint. The irony in prepackaged application deployment is with that kind of money any mid size organization can literally deploy a custom solutio n instead of taking these SaaS solutions. It is literally the biggest farce that has been pandered and bigwig CIOs who don’t have real experience in technology think that this is the way to go.

    Heard yesterday that at a large pharma company Sap deployment cost overruns were of the range of 600 million dollars and the CIO was booted off

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