14 June 2017

Checkers vs Pick n Pay vs Shoprite vs Spar in 2017

Submitted by: Viccy
Checkers vs Pick n Pay vs Shoprite vs Spar in 2017

In 2016 independent consumer website Retail Price Watch conducted a survey of prices across South Africa’s seven biggest chains in four different categories. The items surveyed were national brands which were selected solely on the basis that they are available from all stores.

This year the comparison was slightly truncated because the same brands were not available at all stores: nevertheless the four “big name stores” are still represented.The chains were Checkers, Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Spar. The categories were baking ingredients, beverages, cereals and porridge, and staples.

The average price of each item in May from stores around the country was used in order to ensure that a single “special” did not unduly weight the overall price of the item.

Pick n Pay proved cheaper than the other three stores in all categories, although by a narrow margin in the Cereals and Porridge category, with less than one cent separating it from its nearest rival Checkers.

“It is noteworthy that only cereal and porridge prices appear to have stabilised or slightly reduced since July last year, while others continue to rise,” says Viccy Baker of Retail Price Watch.

Spar as the most expensive was 5.5% higher than Pick n Pay in the Baking Ingredients category and 5.1% more expensive in the Beverages category. Shoprite was the most expensive in the Cereals and Porridge category, with Pick n Pay beating it by 7.7%. In Staples, Spar came out an average 8.7% more expensive than Pick n Pay.

“This survey is not a basket of goods but it does present a rare opportunity to compare apples with apples, something stores and suppliers are very keen to prevent consumers from doing.

“For example, Cremora dropped its 1 kg pack (surveyed last year) for an 800g pack. The price appears to be lower yet if you adjust the price back to the kilogram price, you will find out that you are paying more per gram for the 800 gram pack than you were for the kilogram pack – “shrinkflation” in action!

“An objective price comparison also provides a reality check in demonstrating that prices move in a very narrow band and are similar over time, no matter which store you buy from. It’s up to consumers to demand value for money and not be taken in by so-called special offers (you have probably been paying more than the average for the special over the past few months so that it will appear as if the price has dropped). “