PAK’nSAVE stores are the cheapest, as reported by the latest Consumer NZ supermarket price survey, according to which the Foodstuffs’ chain had the lowest prices across seven centres for a grocery shop of 30 items, including milk and budget bread. Second on the podium was Countdown, whose special offers outnumbered those at New World, pushing it into third place.
Chris Fisher, general manager of Merchandise, Countdown, said the company was satisfied with the result, showing a substantial improvement on last year's performance. Whilst in 2014 Countdown appeared to be nine percent more expensive than PAK'nSAVE, the price gap narrowed to only five percent in 2015; the survey also revealed that on average Countdown is now 10 percent cheaper than New World. The chain launched its Price Lockdown programme in 2013, lowering the price on more than 3,000 items, not least its $1 Homebrand bread.
"While point in time basket comparisons should always be treated with a degree of caution, it's positive to see our focus on lower prices picked up by this survey. Customers are increasingly recognising Countdown's lower prices," said Fisher.
The survey has been conducted in October with the help of ‘mystery shoppers’, visiting stores in each centre on the same day and purchasing from a list of 30 basic products, excluding fresh meat, fish and produce.
