Sainsbury's SmartShop vs Which?
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sainsbury's SmartShop
Scan and bag groceries as you shop, keeping track of your total cost. Earn Nectar points and save offers. Pay quickly at dedicated checkouts or with Apple Pay.
- Scan items as you shop
- Bag items as you go
- Track running total
- Save offers
- Earn Nectar points
- Fast checkout
- Apple Pay integration
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The easier, speedier way to shop - simply scan & bag as you go, all whilst tracking your running total! Here's how: • Download the SmartShop app to register – you’ll need to have your nectar card ready • Save offers and earn Nectar points* • Scan items you want as you walk around the store • Pack your items as you shop • Pay in a flash and feel like a VIP at one of our SmartShop checkouts** Or pay with Apple Pay! You can use SmartShop on your mobile data or our free in-store WiFi, where available. To see if SmartShop is available in your store, just tap the ‘Find a SmartShop store’ button in the app, or visit http://stores.sainsburys.co.uk and apply the ‘SmartShop’ filter within ‘Customer facilities’. WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING • "Flawless! Quick, easy, simple to use" • “SmartShop has revolutionised my weekly shop” • “SmartShop was really convenient” WHAT THE MEDIA HAVE SAID “We were genuinely impressed at the ease and accessibility of the till-free shopping experience.” – The Independent “It was an incredibly easy process - and something that I, a tech savvy early adopter, would happily do again.” – Gizmodo UK “[…] the future works remarkably well.” – The Telegraph KEEP IN TOUCH If you have any feedback about the app or your SmartShop experience, please call us on 0800 234 6434. * Please note that you'll need to be a Digital Nectar customer and have opted in to the offers on the Nectar app to view them in SmartShop. You will need to sign back in if you have not been active for 14 days or longer. **SmartShop checkouts are not available in our mobile pay stores, as these are Apple Pay in-app payments only.
Which?
This app provides expert reviews and price comparisons for thousands of products and services to help UK consumers shop smarter. Access digital magazine issues with full membership for the latest consumer advice and news, all available offline.
- Expert product and service reviews
- Price comparison and availability checks
- Product specification and test result comparison
- Customer ratings and expert verdicts
- Digital issues of Which? Magazine
- Offline access to reviews and magazines
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The Which? app helps UK consumers shop smart and sustainably with 1,000s of expert reviews. Plus, with full membership, you can access digital issues of our flagship magazine to stay on top of the latest consumer advice and news. Shopping is made easy for you with the latest product and service reviews. Compare prices, product specs, test results and customer ratings, and see our expert verdicts on whether products are Best Buys or Don’t Buys. Once you’ve downloaded the Which? app, you can access our reviews and magazine issues – anytime, anywhere, including offline. • Get the best deal – compare prices and check availability. • Filter by price, features, test results and recommended products. • Shortlist and compare product features and test results. • With full membership, you can read digital issues of Which? Magazine. Why do our users love the new Which? App? • It’s a time saver - no need to trawl the internet looking for the best product reviews. • You can check product reviews and prices instantly when out shopping. • Trusted independent reviews of a huge range of products with pros and cons. • Easy navigation enables you to compare products and prices side by side. • You can easily sort the Best Buys from the Don’t Buys. Feedback and support: Share your reviews of the Which? app on the App Store and via app@which.co.uk Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Your Which? membership through Apple In-App Purchase: https://www.which.co.uk/help/your-which-membership-through-apple-in-app-purchase-aoVxP9t7ifLK
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sainsbury's SmartShop at none against Which?'s 2. Sainsbury's SmartShop also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (378 vs 42). Which?'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and review sentiment (35% vs 18%). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Which? sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month. Sainsbury's SmartShop asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sainsbury's SmartShop holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sainsbury's SmartShop has 378 ratings behind it against 42, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 18% of Sainsbury's SmartShop's written reviews are positive against 35% of Which?'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Sainsbury's SmartShop ships an update monthly, Which? weekly. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.
| Parameter | Sainsbury's SmartShop | Which? |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (378 ratings) — better | 4.5 (42 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 17.7% of reviews | 35.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 378 — better | 42 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sainsbury's | Which? Limited |
Customer experience
Sainsbury's SmartShop
Which?
User reviews
Sainsbury's SmartShop
From 378 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Convenient and easy to use
- 🚀 Quick scanning and checkout process
- 💰 Applies Nectar discounts automatically
- 📱 Integrates well with Nectar app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent connectivity issues and app crashes
- ⚠️ Unreliable scanning and item recognition
- 🕰️ Longer checkout process due to random checks
- 🔒 Concerns about security and potential for overcharging
Which?
From 42 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Trusted, independent consumer reviews and testing
- 💰 Saves money on purchasing decisions
- 🔍 Comprehensive product comparison information
- 📱 Convenient access to reviews on-the-go
- 📚 Extensive coverage of consumer products
Room to improve
- 🐢 App extremely slow and laggy
- 🔐 Constant forced re-login issues
- 🐛 Frequent blank page errors
- ❌ Poor search functionality
- 🧭 Inconsistent and confusing navigation
Bugs and requests
Sainsbury's SmartShop
Reported bugs
4 issues- App fails to recognize Nectar card and account
- Inconsistent scanning performance across devices
- Basket issues like duplicate items and missing items
- Checkout process not working in some stores
Requested features
4 requests- Allow payment with gift cards and Nectar points
- Improve integration between shopping list and basket
- Add option to permanently skip onboarding instructions
- Provide in-app receipts and transaction history
Which?
Reported bugs
16 issues- App hangs on login screen
- Blank white pages when loading articles
- Login loop - constantly asks to re-authenticate
- Search returns no results or incomplete results
- Back button unresponsive or overly laggy
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Multiple taps on back button cause navigation errors
- App crashes when changing portrait/landscape orientation
- Offline error message despite active internet connection
- Filters reset when returning to product list
- Pages fail to load or load very slowly
- Broken links in articles and categories
- App freezes during login pop-ups
- Saved items disappear after app updates
- Session not maintained when redirected to website
- Autofill not recognized on username field
- App doesn't remember previous page when returning
Requested features
13 requests- Dark mode for app interface
- Remember login credentials/autofill support
- Persistent session management
- Advanced filtering and sorting options
- Ability to compare more than two products
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Magazine article indexing and search
- Landscape mode for magazine reading
- Sync saved items between app and website
- Notifications for new reviews in categories
- Better iPad screen utilization
- Improved search with suggestions
- Accessibility improvements for screen readers
- In-app subscription option via Apple Pay
In-app purchases
Sainsbury's SmartShop
No in-app purchases
Which?
- Which? Reviews$4.491 Month
- Reviews Plus (discontinued)$5.491 Month
Questions
Is Sainsbury's SmartShop free?
Is Which? free?
Which has better reviews, Sainsbury's SmartShop or Which??
Do Sainsbury's SmartShop or Which? have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sainsbury's SmartShop or Which??
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