Former supermarket boss reveals the time you should never do your weekly shop

If you head to Aldi at 8am, you might find a yellow sticker bargain, but if you shop at Tesco it’s better to visit from 6pm onwards for reductions.

Each supermarket has its own rules about when products get reduced and the best times to go to save the most money, but are there times you should avoid doing a shop?

According to a former supermarket manager, there are two points in the week when you shouldn’t go and grab your groceries. 

Nick, who worked in supermarkets for 21 years, revealed secrets from the industry on an episode of Joe Marler’s Things People Do podcast. 

He explained that during his career, he worked for three major supermarket chains in the UK, including Aldi and Lidl. He started out as a shop assistant while doing his A-Levels, before working up to a managerial role.

Nick left the industry in 2023, but has since been sharing some of the things he learned on the job, including the worst times to go to the supermarket.

‘When I was night manager, I used to work in a busy town centre store,’ he explained. ‘Thursday and Friday nights, we called “Fight Night”, because every Thursday and Friday night it would kick off in the store.

‘People come in, they’ve been on a night out, they’re absolutely p***ed. Don’t know why they come to a supermarket, probably the only thing open and they could get a bit of food. They just want to kick off, they just want to cause aggro.’

He went on to recall one particularly bad incident in the supermarket car park which saw a load of ‘blokes fighting’. Staff went outside to try and break it up, but in the end the police had to be called.

‘That’s what we were dealing with, every Thursday and Friday night, it was just mental,’ he said.

In addition to avoiding ‘fight nights’, Nick claimed that the evening reductions, when yellow stickers are added and items get priced at as little as 10p, can also get a bit ‘ridiculous’ in-store.

Nick recalls fights and ‘all sorts’ happening over the reductions. He says it got so bad at one point that staff started adding the yellow labels out the back in the warehouse, to avoid being swamped by customers. 

‘People are like vultures,’ he adds. 

In other supermarket news, shoppers can now book GP appointments at Tesco. 

Initially, the retailer has been testing GP services with its staff over the last year, as part of an expansion of its existing in-store pharmacy offer. This has proved so successful that the retailer is now going to be trialling it with customers as well.

Partnering with several UK healthcare companies including Bupa, Tesco will be offering ‘quick and easy’ access to advice, treatment and virtual GP appointments for a range of health concerns, in the supermarket’s first ever dedicated health zone.The idea is that shoppers will be able to manage all aspects of their wellbeing, from to health, in one place. 

Initially the service has only launched in one location, but the retailer plans to bring the additional healthcare to two other supermarkets in 2025. If these locations prove successful, more health zones could launch across the UK in the future.

Tesco’s first health zone is located in the Cheshunt Extra store in Waltham Cross. Next year you’ll also be able to get GP appointments in Hexham in Northumberland and West Durrington in West Sussex.

The health appointments take place in private consultation rooms, either virtually by specialists, or delivered in-person by pharmacists. It’s worth noting though, that GP appointments won’t be free, as they are pay-as-you-go private healthcare.

And if you’re wondering where to go for your Christmas shopping this year, Sainsbury’s was recently revealed as being the store with ‘everything you need’ for the festive season.

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