Yahoo Finance Woolworths shopper's major issue with common discount tactic: 'Please explain'
Aussies are trying to save every dollar they can in the cost-of-living crisis, and Woolworths has clarified how you can find more discounts.
A frustrated Aussie shopper has called out Woolworths for the confusing price differences online and in-store. Victorian mother Tina has asked the supermarket giant to "please explain".
She had gone to do an online order, so had the calculations of what her shopping list would cost. When Tina ran out of time and decided to go in-store, she was shocked to find it would be more expensive.
“I went in and found that the online prices are not the same even though I’m going in, picking it up myself, scanning it myself, paying and packing it myself when I can order the same thing online," she said.
She pointed out Arnott's Shapes were $2 online and two for $6 in-store.
“How is it more expensive to go in and do it myself than to order it and have it delivered? It makes no sense,” the shopper said.
Woolworths explains price discrepancies: Online vs in-store sales
In the cost-of-living crisis, shoppers are often seeking out the best value.
With the "price of convenience" with some online ordering or delivery services, it would be fair for some to assume going in and doing the shop yourself would have a cheaper result.
But Woolworths told Yahoo Finance that's not always the case as 'Online Only Specials' can differ to in-store prices.
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That was the case for Tina's packet of Shapes.
“At Woolworths, we offer the same retail prices on our website and mobile app as we do in-store," the spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
"Customers can find and compare the lowest prices before and as they shop.
“Our ‘Online Only Specials’ are short-term offers that are only redeemable for customers shopping online.
"Customers will find any participating items marked with an ‘Online Only’ sticker on our website.”
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Shoppers can find the online only specials under the Specials and Catalogues menu on the Woolworths website.
They change each week and differ from other weekly specials available in stores or through the Everyday Rewards program.
Some shoppers found the discrepancy irritating as it took more work to find where you could get a better deal. Others were happy to have the opportunity to save.
“It’s tit for tat with online versus in-store. You get specials online that you don’t get in-store, and you won’t get specials in-store. Pick what suits you on the weekly,” one shopper said.
"I am very happy about the online-only specials. Their strategy is to save money, and they do that by cutting employees and costs associated with it, which actually saves them a lot of time and money," another added.
Supermarkets 'confuse' shoppers desperate for deals
New data from consumer advocacy group CHOICE found that shoppers are often confused by "specials" offered in Coles, Woolworths and Aldi.
Senior Policy and Campaigns Advisor at CHOICE, Beatrice Sherwood, told Yahoo Finance that shoppers find it difficult to recognise a true discount, with less than half of the people surveyed able to identify a discount online.
"Consumers are feeling increasingly confused by the volume of pricing practices found in supermarkets at the moment,” she said
“A recent CHOICE survey of 1,000 consumers found that one in four people have difficulty identifying if certain supermarket labels represent a true discount or not.”
The survey found that phrases such as 'while stocks last', 'prices dropped', 'down down' and 'super saver' created widespread confusion among consumers.
“The countless labels being used on the shelves in our major supermarkets are confusing consumers, who are struggling to work out what is and isn't a genuine discount,” Ms Sherwood said.
“CHOICE is particularly concerned about this as many people are trying to make their grocery shopping as affordable as possible in this current cost of living crisis.”
