A guide to grocery stores in London
When you are travelling with children, we know how important it is to be able to buy groceries during your trip. Whether you want to buy snacks or lunch on the go, pick up a few essentials or you need to do a full shop, there are plenty of places in London where you can buy food. Knowing where to shop though can be tricky if you are visiting England from another country and are not familiar with all of the options. In this guide we explain more about the different grocery stores in London, including details of the major grocery store chains, the types of stores you might encounter and our top tips for grocery shopping in London.
Types of grocery stores in London
Large supermarkets
If you are staying in London for a longer period of time, or need to locate something particular, large grocery stores (more commonly referred to in the UK as supermarkets) offer the best selection of groceries and other household items.
As space is very much at a premium in London, you will usually find these stores outside of Central London in the more residential areas (Zone 2 outwards). Many, but not all, will offer parking.
These stores are usually open early until late – typically 7am to 11pm on Mondays to Saturdays, with reduced hours on Sundays, usually either 10am to 4pm or 11am to 5pm.
Convenience stores
In addition to the larger supermarkets, as you explore London you will notice smaller supermarkets dotted throughout the city. These convenience stores range from mid-sized stores that provide a good range of groceries to very small stores focussed more on grab-and-go food and essentials like milk. These stores are usually smaller versions of the large supermarket chains, aimed at serving customers seeking convenience.
Usually convenience supermarkets are smaller versions of the larger chain supermarkets. These compact stores offer a wide enough range of food that you will find everything you need for a few days, whether that is essentials like baby wipes, snacks, or food for making a family dinner (if you are staying somewhere with cooking facilities).
You will usually find these sort of stores relatively close to tube stations or attractions, and on high streets.
These stores are usually open early until late – typically 7am to 11pm/12am every day.
The main supermarket brands in London
The following is a list of supermarkets most commonly found in London:
- Waitrose – generally regarding as the most upmarket of the major supermarket chains, offering a good range of basics but also fancier own-brand options, whilst still being priced reasonably enough for most families to still do a full shop here. There are two different types of Waitrose supermarkets. Regular Waitrose supermarkets are larger stores offering an extensive range of products, whereas Little Waitrose stores are a small convenience store option. As Waitrose is under the same ownership as department store John Lewis, you will often (but not always) find Waitrose supermarkets in the same locations as John Lewis, for example at Canary Wharf and Westfield Stratford.
- Marks & Spencer (also referred to as M&S) – also regarded as a relatively upmarket supermarket, but with more stores than Waitrose. Historically M&S was the sort of supermarket where most people would buy a few bits but not really where they would do a full shop because prices tended to be higher than other supermarkets. In recent years however, their prices on daily essentials have become more reasonable. As with Waitrose, there are different types of stores. Regular M&S stores, which may be attached to stores with clothing and homeware or which may just sell food, or smaller more convenience style stores which may be referred to as M&S Simply Food shops or M&S Food.
- Sainsbury’s – less fancy than M&S but slightly more upmarket than Tesco, Sainsbury’s offers an extensive range of food. There are two main types of Sainsbury’s store. Regular Sainsbury’s stores which are larger and which sometimes also offer a small range of clothes and other homeware, and Sainsbury’s Local, which are smaller convenience stores.
- Tesco – the UK’s largest chain, offers good value and an extensive range. There are a number of different types of Tesco supermarket. Tesco Extra stores are the largest stores offering an extensive range of products, Tesco Superstores are large supermarkets, Tesco Metro stores offer a range of products in city centre locations, and Tesco Express stores which are the smallest stores, they are designed for maximum convenience. Do note that in order to incentivise people to participate in their loyal scheme – the Clubcard – Tesco offer lower ‘Clubcard’ prices to those who are members and who scan their Clubcard at the checkout. Dual pricing is displayed on the products, so do be aware of this when looking at prices.
The below chains are less common in London but may still be seen (particularly outside central London):
Other ways to buy groceries
Order online for delivery
Many of the larger supermarkets offer grocery delivery services. These offer customers the ability to shop the full range of products and have them delivered within a certain time slot (usually food must be ordered at least the day before desired delivery but slots do book up and at peak times earlier booking may be required in order to secure a delivery slot). Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons all offer home delivery of groceries. Ocado, an online-only supermarket that is partnered with Marks & Spencer, also offers grocery delivery.
These services are most likely to be useful to those who are staying in self-catering accommodation with cooking facilities (such as an Airbnb). You will need to check whether your address falls within their delivery area. Minimum order values usually apply.
Click and collect
In addition to the ability to have groceries delivered, certain supermarkets also offer the option to click and collect groceries, where you can order groceries online and pick up your shopping from a store at a chosen time.
Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons offer click and collect on groceries in at least some of their stores. Note that even where a supermarket chain provides this option, in many cases, collection is not possible from all stores. Often due to space, click and collect is reserved for larger stores, which tend to be located outside of Central London.
Food delivery apps
Although known for takeout food delivery from restaurants, apps like Deliveroo and Uber Eats also offer delivery from supermarkets and convenience stores. Delivery times are quick (the same sort of time it would take to get a takeaway delivered). Although you may not get the same range of products that you would from a proper supermarket delivery, this option is particularly useful if you need a few essential items quickly.
For Uber Eats, if you use promo code eats-7lnx6u you get a £3 discount off your first order of £20 (excluding promotions). Some merchants excluded. Other local fees/taxes may still apply. Note that if you use this code, London With Littles will also get money off future order values, this does not increase the price you pay.
Important things to know about shopping for groceries in London
Opening Hours
While shops in England and London do not shut down on Sundays in the way that they do in some countries, it is worth noting that Sunday trading hours for larger grocery stores are still limited by law and so most will open either 10am-4pm or 11am-5pm. Convenience stores are not subject to the same restrictions and so can open longer hours. So whenever you need food in London, you should be able to find somewhere that will satisfy your needs.
Other than Easter Sunday and Christmas Day, public holidays do not tend to affect opening hours too much (although larger stores may open using Sunday hours), but if you will need to go grocery shopping on a public holiday, do check for any changes to usual opening hours. Most supermarkets post their holiday opening hours online and in store well in advance.
Checkouts
English supermarkets typically offer both traditional staffed checkout and self-service tills. In many of the convenience stores, there has been an increased move towards self-service tills and the only manned till may be the one at which restricted items (like tobacco) is sold, you can still pay for your groceries here.
When paying, all supermarkets accept major credit and debit cards, and contactless payment is widely used – some self-service tills are now card-only (this should be indicated somewhere, usually at the top of the till) but many accept cash. Most staffed tills still accept cash, but there’s a growing trend towards cashless payments.
Shopping bags
Since October 2015, stores have been required by law to charge 5p for single-use plastic carrier bags.
Most supermarkets have moved away from single use plastic bags and towards thicker ‘bag for life’ plastic bags, for which they usually charge more than 5p (the price varies by supermarket). M&S has moved towards paper bags in its food stores and even charges for these – as at October 2024, the charge is 40p per bag.
If using a manned till, you can ask the till operator for bags. If using a self-service checkout, the last step before paying is that you will be asked how many bags you need to add as part of your order (bags may be located either near the checkout or may be carried by a member of staff who is overseeing the self-checkout tills).
If you want to avoid paying for bags as you go, make sure to carry your own reusable bags with you.
Important things to remember:
- Remember to bring your own shopping bag or be prepared to pay a small fee for one.
- Check for Sunday/Bank Holiday opening hours