They’ve done it for about 4 years now, bulk lines to fill seasonal areas that are mostly empty between Mothers Day and Fathers Day.
Pricing isn’t great at full price (generally more expensive than the equivalent item at Costco) but have seen some amazing deals when reduced to clear.
Assume it’s some sort of promotional consideration / paid spot to the morning shows, etc each year.
Is Costco even that cheap?
I was comparing a few things. I only compared BIGW below as I buy a lot of bulk things from them.
Viva Paper Towel. Costco $29.99 for 24 rolls
BIGW $6 for 6. $5 cheaper vs Costco.
Kleenex Toilet Paper
60pk Costco $34.99
45pk Bigw $21
Dynamo 6l
Costco $43
Bigw $29
Supercoat dog food. Same price
Pedigree cheaper Bigw
The impression I’ve had in the past is that because Coles and Woolies (in particular) have significant purchasing power, they’re able to drive the cost down on items they select (especially ‘staples’)
That said, Jess Irvine from the SMH did a comparison to Woolies recently
I survived the great toilet paper shortage of 2020-21, the Fruit Tingle shortage could be another story. Anyone else notice they’re hard to come by in recent times? I usually pick up a pack to suck on while watching TV but the shelves have been empty in the Woolies, Coles, IGA and Foodworks stores I’ve been in during the last few weeks. Getting desperate for that sweet, sweet fizzy sugar hit.
I saw these in my Woolies the other day - Woolworths Supermarket - Buy Groceries Online
That’s dangerous. Those would be eaten within an hour of the packet being opened. I’m afraid I need portion control. I hope they don’t intend to do away with the 34g packs. They’re just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth and stops me from over indulging. I just can’t have big bags of sweets or chocolates in the house. No self control. I’ve stuck to the rule for most of my adult life and my health is better for it.
You can’t compare Costco’s online prices as they’re significantly higher than what they are in-store, to factor in the “free” shipping. it’s silly considering so many people would do side by side comparisons.
Bizarre way of doing things.
Cheese has jumped. The coon was $10.50 at Woolworths now $13. Coles only hiked it $1 to $11.50. You do start to question the logic in why WOW went further compared to Coles. I have no doubt there is some price gouging going on around the traps at the moment.
I’ve noticed the Chobani which went up in price is pretty much consistently on sale at its ‘old price’ so to speak, or ‘25% off’ as they now claim. Advertising something on special that was its full normal price a month ago seems off to me.
These price dropped campaigns are also bullshit. They hiked the price a few months ago, now dropped it and market it was ‘price dropped’. Our regulator is a toothless tiger in this space.
Judging by the massive jump in short dated reduced to clear stickers I’ve seen in Woolworths across all fresh food departments (half the yoghurt, flavoured milk, upmarket cheese, almost the entire dessert cabinet, massive portions of the ready meals and meat) in the last couple weeks, it’s looking like some of these pricing decisions are backfiring.
Also a lot of Easter product left over in my local (the entire seasonal section is completely full still) and they haven’t yet budged past 20-25% discounts. In Easters past this would be 75%+ off by now.
I get the impression Woolworths is struggling to get a grasp of what the market is doing - a few weeks ago my local Woolies had no yoghurt and hardly any cheese then a week later was packed to the gunnels of both with markdowns. Similar with Fruit and Veg and some deli/meat lines as well
Their machine learning algorithms need more training. Dont they have historical data that they could feed into them?
A lot of this sort of data across many industries has been wrecked by the erratic nature of COVID related panic buying and stock shortages. When they have a full year of “normal” buying habits it’ll likely be useful to then again.
how quaint
It was really weird how huge crowds had gathered outside a Coles supermarket I visited in Sydney this afternoon. I guess people hadn’t realised that supermarkets don’t open until 1pm on Anzac Day. There must have been a crowd of about 50 when I arrived nearby. Walked into the supermarket about 30 minutes later and it was packed out.
Have these people ever heard of planning ahead?
No Coles or Woolies open at all in WA Today.
It’s nothing new, it is pure ignorance for some shoppers to think otherwise.