Recently some stuff happened which has made me lean away from shopping at a certain chain of supermarkets, and in talking with friends I've noticed that every one has one chain they prefer to shop at, and so I ask you Ozbargain community, what is your preferred supermarket chain? And if you feel like it, why did you pick what you picked?
Mostly Spud Shed for veg, Farmer Jacks for meat. For the rest I pretty evenly split it between Coles, Woolies & Aldi. Almost never IGA. An "Oriental Supermarket" for a few things, mostly spices/sauces, or if I want to buy 20kg of rice or try a bunch of different packet noodles.
We're lucky enough to have Aldi, Coles and WW at our local. So I start at aldi because the price is already as low as it gets for most things, then use pricehipster for the rest and go into WW or Coles depending on which has a better deal.
If I had to chose just one, Coles has a wider range and more "Coles brand" stuff which I always go for first.
Our local has Harris Farms, Aldi, and Coles.
Generally the best bang-for-buck approach is to buy whatever fruit and veg is on special at Harris Farms, and ignore the non-specials (their normal prices are quite high, but their weekly special prices are usually very reasonable, and the quality is generally very good, better than the supermarkets).
Then main shop at Aldi, especially their weekly specials. But I agree their normal prices are fine too, so they're good to start with.
Then Coles as the backstop for anything that's a great special, or we particularly need, or where they have a better product than the other 2 (e.g. you can't get Australian bacon at Aldi, and the Harris Farm Australian bacon is usually very expensive). But if I've had enough I just skip Coles.
I shop at Woolies, Coles and Aldi at various times, but Coles is my first choice - I just find their store layouts easier to shop in, and they offer a good range of home brand items, some which are quite unique.
If I want hot food though, Woolies wins hands down, those Chinese chicken wings mmmm…
FYI, for online shopping, Woolies gives you one hour window for delivery, say 1pm to 2pm. Coles says delivery comes between 1pm to 7pm.
I love shopping at Aldi, my local one is fairly small so its super easy to find everything. Plus I'm super happy with the quality of the meat and fruit and veggies, and the chocolate is unbeatable. Some of the Aldi brand products are incredible quality, like the 100% peanuts peanut butter ($3) and the cookies and cream ice cream! I always feel like its cheaper when I get to the check out as well!
Veges and fruit - fresh food market
Other groceries - woolies
Weekly specials and other - aldi
If everything else fails may be coles. Did not like their online shopping experience so don’t prefer it as top choice.
I shop at Coles, mostly because I find more variety and quality in their home brand products, and usually at same or cheaper than Aldi prices (although not for everything). Agree fruit and veg (when I do buy it from Coles) is better quality than Woolies. Can remember 4 separate occasions when I've found rotten fruit in store or discovered it when I returned home.
But woolies does have some better hot box food at some stores (good for a quick lunch), whereas Coles is generally limited in this department.
Mainly Aldi, with a few things from woolies. Get all my fruit and veg from the green grocer as it's cheaper and generally fresher.
Same here. We have some things from Aldi and some from Woolies. Try to get fruits and veggies from green grocer even when woolies try to make things cheaper to kill the competion.
Woolworths about 90% of our groceries because:
- They are closet to where we live
- Prefer their meat to Coles for the supermarket meat we buy
- Their e-gift card app for the 5% discounted cards
- 10% off once a month because we also have Woolworths insurance
The 2 closest coles near us are quite small and the 3rd one is big but doesn’t have a separate bakery, green grocer or butcher in the complex and we gots to have our butcher sausages. I always find when I go to Coles I get tempted by their chocolate chip cookies and donuts and don’t need either so best to avoid temptation too. There are a few things we can only get at Coles so probably pop in every few weeks.
Costco is about 30 minutes away and go there every couple of months.
Have never set foot in a aldi and don’t ever plan to.
Coles - located more conveniently for me, flybuys, better produce.
I hate Aldi because I have to queue up behind people buying hundreds of items. Love self serve checkout so Coles and Woollies get the pick. Woollies more because of the 5% egift card and it's credit card that gives you 4c cheaper fuel.
I hate rushing to pack my own bags so I don't hold up the queue. Then I gotta insert my card and punch in my PIN to avoid the credit card fees.
If it wasn't for that I'd buy a lot More from Aldi
Aldi for most staples, especially proteins. I usually don't mind the Aldi knockoffs, but if there's one I don't like (eg Colway mayo), I'll go to Woolies or Coles for the branded version (eg Praise) - doesn't matter which one. For produce, I'll go to a grocer.
If you aren't visiting all 3 during a shop (provided your local has all 3) are you even a real OzBargainer?
I prefer to shop at Aldi but they are not in my local shopping complex which is inconvenient.
Coles and Woolworths are in my local mall and neighbours (along with their respective booze brands). I really wish ALDI would move into the complex but apparently can't secure leasing space. Unsure why.
I don't have a car, so I usually go to the closest supermarket to me (Coles). If I'm willing to walk further there's a Woolies for me where I can shop with 5% discount using gift card from CashRewards.
I am currently boycotting my local Coles and shopping at the Woolworths in the next suburb over, due to choices they made with COVID-19
- Only opening 2 registers right next to each other, instead of spreading them out.
I pointed out that it was impossible to social distance if customers were standing back to back or side by side at the registers and suggested they might open another register one lot over.
- Having a staff member offering hand sanitiser and at the same time offering free chocolates to customers
- Telling me I needed to pack my own bag (which is fine), but then packing the bags of the next customer
- Cranky checkout staff complaining about all the extra work they have to do.
I now shop at Woolworths had have a much better experience.
Kazza!!!!
Asian Grocer, asian butcher and coles
Woolworths is the most convenient and nearest but don't have a preference. They and Coles are both ripping us off
The Middle-eastern, Indian and Aldi one.
I always found the meat selection, prices and packaging to be better at Coles compared to Woolworths.
Right now they're pretty much equal to me.. maybe very slightly leaning towards Coles as I'm used to them, but whichever is closer or has specials is more important to me!
Coles, because my friend's cousin let me use his staff discount. So yeah, 5%off or 10% off at the moment during this covid-19
I live close to Aldi, Coles and Woolies, so my shopping habits vary
normal times,
60% Aldi, because it is 3 min walk across the road
30% Coles for picking up fresh meat and some weekly specials
10% Woolies, mostly bcz it is close to work, top-up groceries after work is easier.
During lockdown,
100% Woolies, because they have an awesome pickup and delivery service, so much better than other chains.
Half price specials at Coles and Woolworths, otherwise Aldi for the general shop.
Added bonus for Aldi is the convenience that you get a great price compared to the normal prices at Woolies and Coles, so I can shop for what I want rather than planning my menu based on specials.
I'm on team Aldi. Gotta love their Knoppers and coffee beans! I prefer Aldi due to pricing and having decent products.
I only go to Coles and Woolies for specific items that I can't get from Aldi.
I do go to Costco if I need to bulk buy essential items or certain food (I highly recommend their live mussels!).
Otherwise Asian groceries for Asian related things.
Aldi, because the products are cheaper to buy as uni student.
Otherwise I pick for Woolworths for better customer services coz it’s located near my house. The staffs are happier.
However I preferred not to go to Coles for groceries shopping. What happened was a staff member who forgot to scan a product at the cashier. I found that out from the receipt after I got on the bus. I went back to pay for it. The senior lady thought I stole the item and told me “don’t do it again.”
I said: “what? Your staff didn’t scan the product so I headed back to pay for it, that isn’t my fault.”
She had nothing to say. That’s why I got so upset shopping at Coles. Also, it seems the light/environment tone is a bit dull and too white at Coles, but it seems a lot warmer and better at Woolworths.
My mum does the shopping. What do I answer?
I shop at all of them, mostly Aldi/Woolies. Then Coles and finally iga. I just get the offers, whilst Aldi has some of my favourites
I hate Aldi lines at the checkout that why I do most of my shopping @woolies.
depends on discounts, reward point deals
Aldi for the prices, euro offerings, and specials. Coles for the location to me.
Coles was always my favourite but Woolies won me over time. For the past 5 years i guess Woolies is my first choice
If coles offers me 10000 bonus points for 4 weeks shop I will go coles, otherwise woolies.
Personally feel that the veges and fruits in woolies have better quality, and we have 5% off woolie e-gift card. I know coles has e-gift card as well but coles does not have a good app to manage gift card, compared to woolies.
No particular one. I keep a price list on my phone and I go where the item is cheapest.
Coles or woolworths, that choice