Woolworths shopper tries Aldi before jumping on new trend to save $200 on groceries: 'Great value'
A Sydney woman has shared how she has saved hundreds of dollars on her groceries by cross-shopping, a money saving tactic that "plays on the biggest fear" of Coles and Woolworths. Rising grocery prices and cost-of-living pressures mean Aussies are getting savvy to save cash at the register.
Emily Gilchrist has been a long-time Woolworths shopper and recently experimented with Aldi before turning toward a new way to source food.
The 26-year-old usually spends $150 to $200 per week on groceries for herself, her husband and their Golden Retriever.
The construction industry worker told Yahoo Finance she recently tried shopping at Aldi to see if it was cheaper and was “genuinely shocked by the price difference”.
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“I definitely found it was cheaper,” she said, with her grocery bills totalling $140 and $160 on two different weeks.
While Gilchrist was able to save money by shopping at Aldi, she said she ultimately returned to Woolworths after a few weeks as she found the low-cost supermarket just didn’t have everything she needed.
Do you have a grocery-saving story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
“I was going to Aldi and then would end up going to Woolies as well,” she said.
“It [felt] like such a waste of time going to two different places, especially since my local shopping centre doesn't have both under the same roof.”
While going to multiple supermarkets can be an “annoying” extra step, it’s something Aldi has been actively encouraging customers to do.
The German supermarket released a campaign last year telling customers that it knew they saw other supermarkets and encouraging them to “shop at Aldi first” to save.
Aldi has said its smaller range is one reason why it has been able to offer cheaper prices compared to its competitors.
It carries a range of only 1,800 items, compared to Coles and Woolies where you have 20,000 and 25,000 products to choose from.
CHOICE's government-funded supermarket price report found that Aldi was cheaper than Woolworths, Coles and IGA for a basket of staples, including milk, bread, sugar, pasta, tea bags and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Money expert Joel Gibson said people who grocery shopped at multiple different stores were a major worry for the big supermarkets.
“What Coles and Woolies fear more than anything at the moment is the so-called ‘cross shopper’, somebody who shops at more than one place and doesn’t do their whole shop at Coles or Woolies,” he said.
