Coles V Woolies - Instantly compare your entire shopping cart

AssociatedLDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 07/10/2021 - 21:01
Last edited 07/10/2021 - 23:23 by 1 other user

Hey everyone. I wanted to share something I've been working on.

I've built SmartCart to compare your entire grocery shop between Coles and Woolies.
We all know we pay too much for groceries here in Australia, and it's so hard to compare prices between the two supermarkets.
We've just released SmartCart into public beta and I'd love for you to check it out and see if you can get your shop cheaper! And its 100% free to use! (still a few bugs, but we're getting there)

Please note its only on Chrome as an extension for now. But this enables it to appear at the checkout at Coles & Woolies without any extra work and it also means it can rebuild your cart if you go to the cheaper store, saving you from having to manually rebuild it!

Please share your thoughts as it will help me to understand how to improve it.

Thanks!

Free Software/Websites

Related Stores

joinsmartcart.com
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Comments

  • CyberMurning on 07/10/2021 - 21:27

    Only compare the total or can i see for each item which store has it cheaper?

    • avoidfullprice on 07/10/2021 - 22:05
      +2

      Or even split my cart into Coles and Woolies cart, so I get maximum bargain perhaps?

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:22

      Hi,
      You can see the total cart savings, the difference as well as the individual prices (and price differences) between each of the products. For products that don't perfectly match I've built similar products, but that list is going to take some time!

  • specks on 07/10/2021 - 21:59
    +2

    Direct Link

  • No on 07/10/2021 - 22:24
    +1

    Looks really good, well done.

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:23
      +2

      Thanks mate! It took a lot longer than expected, but its good to see it taking shape. Still some work to do around product matches and stability. Please share any feedback and ideas :)

  • kyle on 08/10/2021 - 00:37

    We pay too much compared to?

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:25
      +1

      Vs other western countries - our average spend on groceries is around $7.5K per year (pre-COVID price increases). There's also a lot more competition and consumer choice in other markets Vs here in terms of major players (Ex. Aldi) and now who are going online.

      • OrangeBJ on 08/10/2021 - 08:55

        from your statistics, $7,5k per person or household?

        • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 09:26
          +3

          That was for household spend. but, and its a big but… Their quoting an average weekly shop of $153 per household. I don't have a family and try to budget with my weekly shop and can never get my shop that low. I live with my partner, so theres only two of us as well!

          https://www.canstarblue.com.au/groceries/average-grocery-bil….

    • Diji1 on 08/10/2021 - 10:25
      +1

      Cole and Woolworths each take about 2.5 billion dollars in profit each year.

      Is there a bigger example of free market failure in Australia?

      Naturally, most Australians, who spend their lives watching news and advertising, think this is great even though they are the losers in this arrangement.

      • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 11:26
        +1

        100% agree, pretty much the inspiration as to why I built this.
        If people have the ability to check between Coles & Woolies for the best price for things they actually want in a user friendly way then its a start and may help to open up competition a little more!

        • orangetrain on 08/10/2021 - 11:55

          This may backfire like the implicit petrol price collusion. Best way to promote competition is to promote the competition ;)

          Then the next problem is predatory prices that small competition can't deal with. Ie new woolies enters area, heavy specials to attract loyal customers. Once old competition leaves, massively reduce specials and use profit for that next store.

          Aldi is currently doing this and can do this because they're backed by multinational company.

          • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 12:54

            @orangetrain: Ha too true…
            Only have two major players for our groceries at a national level feels like just too little competition. It's good there's other players but their collective market share Vs Coles / Woolies is still super low.
            Especially in the online grocery delivery side where Coles/Woolies really have zero competition. The other thing I'm seeing is their "unintentional price collusion" (not accusing them by any means of that, just can't find a better word ;)) where one moves on price of say backed beans and the other will follow soon after, or will sit just under / or over by like 30cents. Its not enough for any one to really care, but at an aggerate it adds up to be a lot for them!

            To your point - more competition the better it is for the customer!

      • Almost Banned on 08/10/2021 - 13:12

        Do you consider EVERY profitable company a failure of the free market, or just some?
        At what point does it become evidence for you?
        I would have thought that a huge range of freely available groceries with very few shortages conveniently placed for the vast majority of the population at prices almost everyone can afford is a huge indicator of success of the free market - but what would I know.

  • jeeg on 08/10/2021 - 01:17

    Great stuff! Wifey is immediately interested. She does her shopping on her phone…does this work on phone too?

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:28

      Thanks for the feedback!
      Not currently on the phone as yet. Its in the works if there is enough interest. The chrome extension allows a lot of automation so you don't have to add your items at Coles and Woolies (you only need to do it once) and it will take your cart over to the cheaper provider and also does promo codes.

  • holdenmg on 08/10/2021 - 08:11

    The example basket shown @ https://joinsmartcart.com/ is Heavily Weighted on a Few Woolworths Items on Special.
    Most people wouldn't spend $88 on 4x2kg Omo (or even $44 for that matter).

    Also, not a single Item in the Coles Basket is less than Woolworths.

    Why not exclude the 4 Items that are the same price at both and include in some from Coles that are
    at a discount to show the true value of your App and that both Woolworths and Coles discount?

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:34
      +1

      TBH, they change price so often throughout the week and outside of their weekly major promotional cycle that each time I take a screen shot it could be different. Its a good call out though and if I do some actual marketing I'll use more real-world basket to compare.

      The interesting thing spending so much time analysing the prices is how often their exactly the same across particular categories and products. I'd say their monitoring each others prices super closely which is a bit of a shame…

      • holdenmg on 08/10/2021 - 08:39

        One way you could go with this is have an <-> symbol where the price is the same and an arrow from Right to Left (or Left to Right) to the cheapest.

        How do you stand with Screen Scraping the data?
        I seem to remember Airlines got real upset about people doing comparisons?

        Are you going to include Catalogue dates on Items?

        • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 13:01
          +2

          I like that, thanks!

          Scraping data, its the hardest part. Its completely legal and Coles scrapes Woolies, Woolies scrapes Coles, Alidi scrapes them all etc etc etc - It seems everyone scrapes each other, but when you try to use that for a pro-customer solution then they get angry. I'm ok with that if it means users can actually save some cash or at least have that knowledge if they want to or not.
          I'll look into the catalogue date inclusion as well. Need to focus on stability and product matches for now haha!

  • boomramada on 08/10/2021 - 08:20

    Shopping smart would be buying items when they are on special from either shops.
    Usually there is a pattern, if cokes are discounted this week at coles, it be on special on woolies next week.

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:36

      Very true, I've noticed Wednesday is their normal major promotional cycle - but they adjust prices often on non-promoted items. I think you could still use what I've built to compare and just have the knowledge of the others prices and what's cheaper at either.

  • Danstar on 08/10/2021 - 08:22
    +4

    I just buy most my items on special. unless it's stuff that never goes on special/essential items.

    Ie. If i want to buy chips, I won't buy red rock deli chips @ 5.50~, I'll buy CC's @ $1.75 half price

    That's what irks me when people say shop @ Aldi cos it's cheaper. It's not cheaper if you shop smart.

    • holdenmg on 08/10/2021 - 08:30
      +1

      "Buy stuff you need when on Special" is on the Back of my OzB Membership Card.

      It also says stuff about Fight Club, but I can't say anything about that…

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 08:39
      +1

      Totally agree! Unless your spending the time price hunting for promotions you end up paying a similar about (I think). Part of the reason why I built this, to just give you a total cart view across promoted and non-promoted items.

    • Mokr on 08/10/2021 - 10:39

      That's what irks me when people say shop @ Aldi cos it's cheaper. It's not cheaper if you shop smart.

      People dont want to spend time checking the prices every week for specials

      • Danstar on 08/10/2021 - 14:11
        +1

        I don't spend time, I just walk through the aisles like I usually would, and pick the brand on special that week. Pretty simple really, especially since the majority of people would shop at the same place, get majority of the same things week in week out.

        My partner goes Aldi sometimes, and I always find the stuff from their is always of less quality, or just doesn't taste quite right compared to 'normal' brands. (even the coles branded items are better than Aldi's branded stuff)

  • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2021 - 09:17
    +1

    This is fantastic!

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 08/10/2021 - 09:39

      Thanks! Its taken a while to get it to this point, and its great to get some real feedback on it.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2021 - 09:31
    +3

    Great idea, and it's something I've wished for for quite a while but…..

    "[this extension] Can read and change all your data on all websites"

    Yeah that's a no from me dawg.

  • Almost Banned on 08/10/2021 - 13:14

    But can it stop you from buying clearly labelled cat food and being stupid enough to think you can eat it, then blaming Woolies?
    https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/perth-…

  • garuda on 10/10/2021 - 20:13

    this seems like an amazing idea, but will there be versions for other browsers and maybe possibly an app you can download on your computer??

    • AssociatedDa11a5 @ joinsmartcart.com on 11/10/2021 - 21:07

      Hi,
      I'm working on other browser versions, but Chrome seems to be used by most people. As a plug-in it enables it to automatically pop up at the checkout and compare without having to do anything extra. If they price is cheaper at say Coles (if your comparing from Woolies) it will also rebuild your cart saving you from manually having to do it.

  • Moo Deng on 11/11/2021 - 22:55

    Will be great to be able to add certain products as favourites or watch list, and get notified via email when there is a price drop below a certain point.

    Like https://pricehipster.com/ used to do, but is currently broken :(

  • Moo Deng on 12/11/2021 - 20:12

    Does this work on Edge?

    I added the items to my cart, hit the "compare your cart" button and it spins for a couple of seconds round and round and then just stops….

    Do I need to sign up and log in to my SmartCart account or is that not necessary?

  • Wardy on 23/11/2021 - 22:39

    Is there any way to include the android ap (and probably apple app) Half Price: Coles, Woolworths

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codylab.ha…

  • Nomoneys on 13/03/2022 - 20:45

    Hi joinsmartcart
    Any update on an iOS app?

  • lordra on 12/05/2022 - 20:40

    On PC, using Version 101.0.4951.54. It doesn't pop up on either of my baskets. It's active/enabled in the extensions tab. What am I doing wrong?

    I even went to
    https://joinsmartcart.com/thankyou
    and clicked the link from there, but with a pre-populated cart, the little guy doesn't pop up.

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