Smart Price but not so smart packaging (Asda)

Member Name: Grimsbygal

Product:	Asda
Date:	28/02/01 (2048 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: close to my house, good range of books and clothing

Disadvantages: quality is lacking

Most of you have probably shopped at Asda at some point in your life. I am a student and am forced to shop at Asda as it is the only supermarket within walking distance especially if you have heavy bags to carry. I am not overly keen on their products and am more of a Tesco fan after spending half my life eating Tesco products.

~Asda Smartprice~
It’s goodbye Asda Farmstores and Hello Asda Smartprice. Asda have chosen to replace their old value products for Smartprice. Most of the goods are the same but just in different packaging although they have also introduced new goods with better prices.

Asda claim you can get a weekly family shop for under £20. This includes Automatic Washing Powder, 20 Nappies, 12 Toilet Rolls, Multi Surface cleaner, Spaghetti, 4 Chicken and vegetable Pies, cheese and broccoli pasta and sauce, Bacon, 12 pack of snacks, rice pudding, tomato soup, tomato ketchup, 10m kitchen foil, vegetable chilli with rice, sweet corn, chicken breast fillets, 8 sausages, 10 cheese and tomato pizzas, 10 chicken nuggets, shampoo, conditioner, 4 chocolate mousse, pure orange juice, 80 tea bags, 6 fromage frais, coleslaw, curry noodles and finally chicken noodles. This is 28 products so £20 is very good value. I think though you will need more items than this in a family weekly shop so don’t get your hopes up by only taking a £20 note with you.


I myself have only bought a few of Asda’s Smartprice range and haven’t been too impressed. I do however continue to buy products such as spaghetti, water and toilet rolls. Asda sell over 500 Smartprice products. I often wonder who on earth chose the packaging. It is foul and makes it look incredibly cheap. It is quite distinctive though as no other brand has packaging quite as bad. I suppose though the cheaper the packaging the cheaper the product.

I tried the tomato sauce and found it tasted revolting, I think I will be sticking to Tesco value or Heinz
.
As for Smartprice Shampoo, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. For only 34p a litre I dread to think about the quality. I have bad enough hair as it is and I don’t want it looking any worse. It is in a see-through bottle and looks more like washing up liquid.

Asda’s Smartprice range does stretch into other household goods such as Towels and kitchen utensils. These are all reasonably priced and of good quality.

~Fresh meat~
I am often disappointed with the quality of the fresh meat in the store. I often purchase chicken and always seem to regret it afterwards, as it seems to be lacking flavour and quality.

~Fruit and Vegetables~
Asda have a large selection of fruit and vegetables available. As I am a student and on a diet, jacket potatoes are a favourite of mine. I struggle to get a decent potato from Asda and often end up having to go without.

~Organic~
Asda also sell a variety of Organic products at rollback prices such as coffee, vegetables, bread and cheese.

~Clothes~
I do like Asda’s George clothing range especially for children. For young children there are some excellent quality clothes to choose from at cheap and cheerful prices. My most recent purchase from the George range was a pair of Little Miss Chatterbox Pyjamas. They were £19.99, which was fairly cheap considering the quality. They do offer low price fashion though although I’m not too keen on the sizes. I have liked a few items in there only to be disappointed in the changing rooms.

~Entertainment~
Asda also have a music and video entertainment section that I find handy as I can get CD’s along with my food shopping and don’t have to go into town.

~Cards~
If you have any birthday cards to get I recommend looking at Asda’s Card Shop. They offer a cheap range of cards, which are good value for money.

~Toys~
Asda sell a lot of Play and Learn toy
s that are very good value for money. At Christmas we bought a few toys from here and one item was £5.00 cheaper in Asda than in Argos and other places.

~Customer Service~
As for the staff I find them friendly most of the time but I think a lot depends on what part of the country you are in and not Asda themselves. I think they could improve the staff uniforms though as it often leaves me wondering, maybe they are Smartprice as well.

~Availability~
I am often disappointed with Asda for having empty shelves. This has happened on many occasions and I often leave without getting everything I wanted. It annoys me even more when it is products such as milk or bread I cannot get as it means I have to then go elsewhere or go back the next day.

~Trolleys~
I have to manage with a basket most of the time as I have only got two hands to carry the bags back to my house. If you want a trolley though you have to pay a pound deposit. I think this can be a bit of a pain, as people do not always carry change around in their pockets.

~Books~
This is one thing that impresses me about Asda. They sell top selling books for just £3.84 instead of the £5.99 RRP.

~Conclusion~
I will continue to shop at Asda until I have finished my degree but I hope when I move there is a Tesco nearby. At the end of the day though a supermarket is a supermarket and there are not major differences between each one. I do think Asda need to put more effort into their fruit and vegetables and fresh meat as I think the quality is lacking.

Enjoy Shopping!

Summary: