0 voters
Here is a multiple choice Poll to ascertain supermarket buying habits .
I split my buy between Coles and Foodworks .
If you mark "other’ please feel free to list where you purchase in the post below.
For our “Other” category vote we also shop at Costco.
An independent, locally owned “warehouse” that sells mainly food and is a cross between a supermarket and a “cheap” shop. They have a limited range (eg 4 flavours of jelly) and often buy pallet loads of “soon to go out of date” or discontinued lines, seconds in fruit & veg and offer them at very cheap prices. We paid $3.60/kg for strawberries, and I said you’ll never see them that cheap again. Last week they were $3/kg - admittedly small or very large or misshapen.
We tend to shop at more than one supermarket…usually one of the big ones for basic items…but go to a local independent Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian etc) supermarkets for most other things.
We also tend to not buy meat nor fruit or vegetables at a supermarket either, but shop at butchers/fruit and vegetable grocer instead.
In relation to where our weekly grocery money flows, it is estimated that about
Coles, mostly, because its close to home and it has shallow trolleys. Aldi because sometimes I just want to see what they have, and they stock a small variety of YouFoodz. IGA because after I have been in town, sometimes it is just easier to get a parking spot right in front so I dont have to walk far. Plus they also have YouFoodz. Woolies if they have parking close to the shop and I am in the vicinity in need of something. Its a rare event these days. And I can never get a shallow trolley there.
Fruit and veg are sometimes bought at a F&V shop in a suburb a little distant from here, and meat at the butcher outside Coles when I can afford it, because they are so much more expensive.
IGA holding their own with the " big boys " Coles and Woolies . If you are reading this scroll to the top and cast your votes . IGA certainly the " smokey " in this race .
I marked Coles and Woolworths because those are the ones near me
in StKilda West (Melbourne). And there are so many of them, usually one next door to the other!
I’m not keen on Aldi as I’m not familiar with the brands they stock.
There’s an IGA in Middle Park with prices to match the income of those living there.
On Market days I go to the South Melbourne market for fresh produce. And there’s a big Woolies supermarket in the shopping complex nearby with ample parking underneath.
I also make a special trip, maybe 2 or 3
times a year, to Sydney Rd Brunswick,
to the Mediterranean Wholesalers.
I take a friend with me and we stay for coffee and cakes at the store.
There’s a Gervasi Foodworks near Moreland Rd Brunswick, which stocks a lot of imported items, although it’s a smallish shop and it’s very hard to get around with a trolley!
Poll doesn’t allow an indication of the proportions that go to each retailer. There are selected items that I buy at other than Coles and Woolies, and I do so on a regular basis, but in terms of “share of wallet” it is not high.
Added:
So my rubbery estimate is 1% IGA, 1% Aldi, 49% Coles, 49% Woolworths
Mind you, Coles and Woolworths are doing their best to drive up the share of IGA and Aldi because The Duopoly keep on dropping products that I buy (de-ranging).
@person Regarding the poll I had to work within the constraints of Discourse . If I had added numbers and percentages others would have seen the poll as too complicated . It is only meant to be a rough guide .
Thanks though for bringing it to my attention . Will take it into consideration when I do another poll and naturally will change content if advised by the Choice staff to do so .
You could also indicate in your comments what portion of your “wallet” is spent in each. I use IGA sparingly roughly 10% of my Supermarket purchases, ALDI about 60%, Coles & Woolies equally of the remainder. Of my total shopping budget for Food and similar the total wallet is about 65% of our spend. Excel spreadsheet kept of our budget. I am sure @vax2000 would be happy to have those breakdowns for anyone who wishes to provide them. Costco is usually about 5% of our spend but is even less used for Supermarket type items than even IGA.
If you ask for more detail in a future poll, would it also require a proportionately greater number of respondents to ensure it is statistically representative?
My response is skewed as the supermarket options exclude Coles (it’s too far away), but favour our smallish local IGA, the local butcher, bakery, F&V because they are all closer and for the last three better choices than Woolies. Even the IGA outshines Woolies on many products, but not on depth of product range or pricing on some staples. I don’t know how you would capture this.
In several of our previous places of residence there has only ever been one choice. Perhaps it is worth asking how many and which options are available where you live?
@mark_m I take your point on the supermarkets available in the area you live in . My part of Melbourne , Western suburbs , is devoid of Woolworths . The ones near me are still a 20 minute drive .
Thanks for the input .
While I do most of my shopping at the “other”, I do go to IGA and Foodworks for things I can’t get there. Both IGA and Foodworks are becoming more of a convenience store, with ready-made meals (store made takeaway meals, sandwiches, chips, hot chooks) and now carry a smaller quantity, but a much wider range of goods (eg 9 flavours of jelly vs 4 at “other”). I call in to buy local milk, etc. I spread my custom around town - I buy nearly all my meat at an independent butcher, bread at the bakery. Small town means it isn’t far between them all which makes it convenient.
Definitely not at this lot even if they were in FNQ.
This is what I’ve been thinking all along,
so much depends on what shops are near us.
There used to be an IGA near the site
of the StKilda station, but now it’s
a smallish Wolies.
Along Fitzroy Street there are no F&V
or butchers any more.
Acland street has no other food shops but a small Coles and a larger W. and
a few Convenience stores. Again all F&V shops have disappeared due to the too high rentals in the area.
Given that members of Choice Community
live in such diverse places of Au,
some can still shop at independent locally owned stores and can still find butcher and veggies shops near them,
It could be very difficult to establish
our shopping preference?
I try to buy from IGA where I can because I always get served by an actual human and not shoved into a self serve queue. But ultimately the range is much smaller so I often go to Coles or Woolworths if I need to buy a few things
I tend to avoid supermarket ‘loyalty’, as I try to fit shopping in with whatever else I’m doing and wherever I am. The ‘go to’ supermarket is IGA, but depending if I’m at the doctors, or visiting parents, picking up someone, etc, I aim to NOT be travelling all over the place. So Woolies or Coles are much of a muchness and Aldi depends where I am parked and if I have my shopping trolley as I inevitable buy heavy stuff.
Foodland
Re my “other”, it is the bulk of my shop. I minimise as far as I possibly can what I buy from supermarkets and use a local butcher, greengrocer, deli, fishmonger, poulterer (just thinking how lucky I am!), pet shop and various culture-specific shops for their cuisine’s spices etc.
Had to go to Coles today… Organic Vinegar to cook with, Cheap Coles Vinegar to Clean with. Peanut butter, batteries for my mouse, Jarlsberg as money is tight and cannot afford to pay more for good cheese.
Farmers markets, bulk buy stores for all else.
