Which supermarket in Australia offers the best value for money in 2024?

Last Christmas, we reviewed the grocery chains in Australia that were sparking the most buzz among consumers with their festive marketing drives.

But three months on, amidst allegations of “price gouging” by major supermarkets and rising cost-of-living concerns, which supermarkets do Aussies think provides the most bang for their buck – and are they increasingly gravitating towards these retailers?

Which grocery chains do Australians think offer the most value for money?

Latest data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that Aldi has consistently been viewed as the supermarket chain most able to stretch Aussies’ grocery dollars since at least a year ago – well ahead of Woolworths, Coles and IGA.

Its Value score – a BrandIndex metric that measures the extent to which consumers think a brand offers good/poor value for money – has largely held steady from 44.0 on 14 Feb 2023 to 44.5 on 14 Feb 2024.

In contrast, Coles and Woolworths are seen as providing much poorer value for money compared to a year ago. Value scores for Coles have plunged 19.4 points over the past year, from 36.2 on 14 Feb 2023 to 16.8 on 14 Feb 2024, and 21.1 points for Woolworths, from 37.6 on 14 Feb 2023 to 16.5 on 14 Feb 2024. Both retailers’ Value scores have been on a downward trend since September last year.

Meanwhile, IGA’s Value score declined from 14.1 on 14 Feb 2023 to 10.9 on 14 Feb 2024.

Which grocery chains have Australians most purchased in recent months?

But has the increasingly negative perception of Coles and Woolworths’ value-for-money led to Aussies doing their grocery shopping elsewhere so far?

Data from BrandIndex shows that Woolworths and Coles remain the top two supermarkets that most Aussies have purchased from in the past three months. As of 14 Feb 2024, Woolworths (71%) and Coles (66.9%) have the largest share of current customers – well ahead of Aldi (47.4%) and IGA (30.1%).

But, as consumer perception of Aldi’s relative value-for-money compared to other major retailers widen, will this lead to Aldi increasing its share of current customers against Woolworths and Coles in the coming months? YouGov BrandIndex’s daily tracking of consumer perceptions of each brand will allow interested parties to see just how much – and how soon.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Value scores are based on the following question: “Which of the following brands do you think represents GOOD / POOR value for money? By that we don't mean "cheap" / "expensive", but that the brand offers a customer a lot / not much in return for the price paid” (Net score). Current Customer scores are based on the following question: “Have you purchased from any of the following retail brands in the past 3 months?” (% Yes). Figures in this article are based on a 12-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.

_{Cover photo by PeopleImages}