Sainsbury’s faces an increasing fight for shoppers’ spending in its London and Home Counties heartlands from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

According to data seen by The Times, nearly 1,000 locations that are capable of supporting a discount supermarket, many of which are in the South East, have been identified by CACI, the market research company.

The sites are disproportionately found in the areas of the South where the hard discounters are yet to penetrate. About £11bn of Sainsbury’s £17.8bn revenue comes from areas where it could soon be in competition with Aldi and Lidl, CACI calculates.

Increasingly discounters are targeting the middle-class customers on whose loyalty Sainsbury’s has relied. The market will be examining Sainsbury’s second-quarter trading update this week for evidence of vulnerability as consumers prepare for a recession.
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