Bargain supermarket ‘cheaper than Aldi’ abruptly closes in the UK – shoppers will be gutted
A BARGAIN online supermarket that sold items for cheaper than Aldi has abruptly ended all its operations in the UK.
Motatos sold surplus or short-dated stock for rock-bottom prices.
It offered huge reductions on branded items that could no longer be sold at major supermarkets but were still perfectly safe to eat.
For example, in June we found customers could nab a 100g pack of Galaxy Minstrels for 82p compared to £1.20 at Aldi.
We also found a pack of 20 strong bin bags £1.40 – 99p cheaper than if you bought them from Aldi.
It also held weekly flash clearance sales where it would flog items for just 1p.
The online supermarket delivered the items straight to your door for a fee of £2.99 for standard delivery or £3.99 for premium delivery.
But the discount retailer sent an email to its subscribers today announcing it was closing in the UK after just over a year of trading.
The company said it had decided to wind down its UK operations and had sold all of its remaining stock to rival bargain supermarket Discount Dragon.
A statement on its website said: “Market conditions are tough right now and we need to focus our efforts in the Nordics, Germany and Austria, where we’ve been present for a longer time.”
The retailer, which campaigned for reducing food waste, told loyal customers: “You have helped us recirculate over 1,000 tonnes of food and consumer products. We couldn’t have done it without you.
“Now you’ll have to keep the war against food waste going without us as sadly, we have to throw in the towel this time and leave you.”
However, it confirmed all outstanding orders will still be delivered and its customer services will remain open until mid-October to answer any questions.
Motatos customers who switch to using Discount Dragon will be able to get £10 off their first order by signing up through a link on its website.
Online shopping became even more popular during the pandemic.
But since lockdown restrictions eased and high streets have reopened over the last few years, online sales have taken a hit.
Online shopping sales fell to their lowest levels since before the pandemic in May, dipping by 3.3%, according to high street sales tracker BDO.
Popular on-demand delivery company Getir suddenly shut a raft of its stores in April, effectively ending services across large parts of the UK.
Discount Dragon is currently selling Lindt 200g 60% dark chocolate truffles for £2.99 – more than 50% cheaper than on the Lindt website.
Meanwhile a 450g box of Weetabix crispy mini chocolate cereal is selling for £1.49 – a saving of £2.01 off the usual price.
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