Woolworths is introducing a new round of permanent price cuts on some of its more popular lines, maintaining its ongoing war with Coles to claim your food-spending dollar. Those reductions will be welcome if they cover products you regularly buy, but careful shopping and a sensible choice of store brands remains your best weapon to cut your supermarket bill.
Picture: Marianna Massey/Getty Images
The sample list of “Every Day Value” price cuts which Woolworths is introducing from today in its stores covers a range of products, from roast beef to nappies. The biggest percentage reductions on the list are rump steaks (down 28.87 per cent) and Fab laundry liquid 1 litre (down 28.57 per cent).
In some cases, this changes the way you might consider buying items. For instance, a 10 pack of Arnotts Shapes biscuits (250 grams total) for $3.20 is cheaper than Woolworths’ regular pricing for a box of shapes ($2.96). Shapes go on special with ridiculous regularity — Coles has them for $1.30 this week — so it’s not the ultimate strategy, but in a non-special week it’s a rare example of a more highly-packaged product being cheaper than the more basic alternatives.
Even with the cuts, however, there are instances here where house brand goods are still cheaper, sometimes substantially so. The 725 gram box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes may only be $4, but a 500 gram box of the Home Brand equivalent is $2.04, giving it a slightly cheaper unit price. Two litres of Home Brand laundry detergent will cost you $1.49, less than a sixth of the price of the newly-discounted Fab. House brand products tend to have identical prices across the main chains, so you could score similar deals at Coles or ALDI.
We know: some of you refuse to buy house brands because you think they give the supermarkets too much power, because you perceive the quality to be inferior, or because they’re more likely to use imported products. The first point is debatable, and the second really needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, store brand goods actually taste better. If you’re an economy-minded shopper, it’s foolish to skip them altogether.
Lifehacker’s weekly Loaded column looks at better ways to manage (and stop worrying about) your money.
Comments
4 responses to “Woolworths Price Cuts: How To Save Even More”
Neat!
Though, I’ve noticed Coles seems to consistently have better quality fruit and veg
And no, I don’t work at Coles, don’t ban me Angus!!
My experience it the opposite. I think it depends on the suburb/town where you live. Either way it goes it would be nice if a Costco or some other large brand opened up in the same area to give them some genuine competition. Aldi’s don’t have anywhere near enough variety to be real competition.
I definitely agree that it comes down to the suburb. I’m in East Sydney so my closest are Potts Point (Coles), CBD (Woolworths), Taylor Square-ish (Woolworths). The CBD store is really poorly laid out and confusing and way too busy, but the Taylor Square store is usually quite good and their fresh fruit and veg is excellent. Though, if I had the choice, Broadway Coles wins hands down. It’s just a little too far without a car.
I’m in that area and find Edgecliff the best option for a bigger shopping trip. If you’re a member of a car share, it’s well worth it for the Aldi+Coles+Harris Farm option. You could always grab a couple of IKEA bags and jump on one of the 32x buses too.
Actually, come to think of it, you’re right
The Coles in World Square always has gnarly looking fruit and veg
I forgot all about that one
Though the local Coles beats both of the woolies near me, so I spend a bit extra time to go to Coles
Hmm read the guide again, the biggest reductions are International roast coffee (down 32.47% and Garnier Herbashine 33.29%)
If you live in South Australia, go to your local RAA store, and buy a woolies giftcard. It will cost you $95 for a $100 giftcard. You can use this at any Woolies chain (eg. petrol, Dan Murphy’s, etc).
That is a wall of meat. A WALL OF MEAT.
Coles brand frozen vegetables are about the only that are Australian grown!