Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose’s secret supermarket codes on shelves

Shoppers have been urged to keep an eye out for a hidden code on supermarket shelves that reveals when they can get a bargain. Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose all feature this secret system on their shelves.

It tells staff, as well as shoppers who know what to look out for, when promotions on products are going to end. So, if you know how to read the codes, you can make sure you purchase that item before it goes back up to full price. Many of the big supermarkets offer discounts on a range of products in their stores.

Tesco has its Clubcard prices, while Sainsbury’s has their own Nectar range. If shoppers with those loyalty cards pick up an item on the deal, they can unlock a lower price.

However, many of the deals don’t last long. Some items are discounted for a just short time and it can be frustrating if you don’t know how long the cheaper price will last. 

Thankfully, there is a very clever way to tell when an item is going to go back up to full price. How to read the code depends on the supermarket, but all you need to do is find the product label on the shelf.

This will tell you the item’s name and price, but also when the discount is set to expire. In Tesco, the date the discount will end is written backwards.

A consumer expert from Which? explained: “This is a secret code that tells you when something is going to end on promotion at Tesco. They put it backwards, so it can be a little tricky to spot.”

For example, he showed an item that had the code “250121”, which means the item would go back up to full price on January 21, 2025. The expert shared: “The first digits, the 25, means the year. The middle is the month and the last two is the date.”

Waitrose is slightly different as they simply have the day and the month on their shelf labels, for example, “21/01” means the deal will end on January 21.

Meanwhile,  Sainsbury’s shows the date the promotion started on their labels instead of when it ends. However, the expert advised: “Sainsbury’s typically end their deals on Tuesdays, so that can give you a pretty good estimate of the end date.”

Supermarkets also typically show the end date of deals in their apps, so if you use them to help do your shopping, keep an eye out for when they grab a deal.