Woolworths and Coles price drops: Australian supermarket announces they’ve reduced the price of ‘680 products’ following Woolworth’s announcement

Coles has responded to Woolworths’ Lower Shelf Price announcement this week with one of their own.

On Monday Woolworths announced that they have reduced the price of “hundreds of products” with the intention of “setting a new benchmark for lower shelf prices and providing genuine, lasting and dependable value that customers can count on every time they shop with us”.

They claimed families spending “$150 on their weekly shop could now save on average around $15 a week when buying Lower Shelf Price products”.

But Coles have remained competitive, with price drops that began in autumn and will continue throughout the winter months, comprising of over 600 products, which they say will bring an “average savings of 21 percent”.

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A Coles spokesperson told 9honey Money they had reduced the price of “680 products” which will remain in place throughout autumn, with further savings expected for the winter months.

“We know customers are on the lookout for great value all year round, and we remain focused on delivering that through thousands of weekly specials, including half-priced items as well as Down Down products across popular brands and exclusive Coles Own Brand products,” they said.

“We currently also have over 1,000 products at half price, including staple products customers buy most each week,” the spokesperson continued.

Products included in this promotion include “meat and seafood, pantry, bakery, frozen, health and home care” products.

Woolworths’ new Lower Shelf Price range price drops start today (May 14) and are set to be in place until “at least 2026.” 

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Initially, Woolworths’ announcement sounded like good news for shoppers, but a further look into these prices was revealing.

I took 11 of the products that Woolworths had lowered in price earlier this week and compared them to Coles and Woolworths.

Aldi prices proved to be the lowest when it came to nine of the products – tomato sauce, sliced bread, noodles, microwave rice, chicken schnitzel, Greek yoghurt, middle bacon, party sausage rolls and frozen berries.

Woolies had the best price for Coca Cola, and Coles was selling the cheapest oats.

You can see the results here but, in short, Aldi prices proved to be cheaper across the board, however saving really depend on which products you are happy to buy different versions of, and which you prefer in their original brands.

I imagine this will be the same outcome with Coles products, if brand loyalty isn’t an issue and switching to Aldi products is possible.

But we do love our brands. And to be honest, all these different sales announcements plus the weekly catalogue specials can prove confusing to customers.

Woolworths and Coles run several price promotions at once, via which they talk about lower prices, short-term, medium-term and longer-term ones.

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For example, Coles’ weekly catalogue specials, out today (May 14) show significant savings to be had, particularly when it comes to Twinings teabags, Old El Paso Hard and Soft Taco Kit, Leggos Pasta Sauce, chicken thigh cutlets, Vittoria Freeze Dried Instant Coffee, La Espanolia Olive Oil and Kelloggs Crunchy Nut and Nutri Grain cereal.

These savings, however, are in addition to the aforementioned 680 products that have ben reduced in price.

At Woolworths, their short-term specials come out weekly in their catalogue released each Wednesday, including items that have been reduced by as much as half.

This is in addition to their longer promotions including the Lower Shelf Price range.

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So how can customers really save?

To take advantage of the lowest prices possible, consumers need to sit down after Coles and Woolworths release their weekly catalogue specials each Wednesday, pull up Aldi’s new app, and doing some research.

You simply take your shopping list and look up each item until you find the cheapest price. In terms of including Aldi, it depends on if you are tied to certain brands or not.

Then, make a store-by-store list of who has the cheapest products that week. And it really does depend on the product and your preferences.

For example, Aldi sells the most affordable teabags but my son only likes Dilmah Extra Strength teabags, so I go to Coles or Woolies for these, whichever has them at the lowest price.

This is what my shopping list ends up looking like ahead of doing the weekly grocery shop using this process.

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As you can see, to access the lowest prices possible, I’ll be starting at Aldi, then going to Coles and Woolies, and then the butcher and a discount store or chemist for cleaning products.

It takes time and patience, but it does lead to real savings.

Still, there’s only so much we can do to stretch our grocery budgets in lieu of real relief at the supermarket checkout.

** Prices are accurate at the time of calculation. Products are subject to region and availability.

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