Prices deviate between stores for countless reasons, and a higher price on the same item doesn’t mean that store is trying to get rich off of you. Here are a few reasons you may find price differences as you shop around. It’s not all apples to apples or milk to milk.
1. Different Distributor Pricing
Supermarkets pay different prices for the same product through distributors. Some stores pay what’s listed in the distributor’s catalog, while others get a blanket discount off of all products, based on volume.
The more product collectively that a retailer purchases, the larger their discount. That organic soup your small co-op sells for thirty cents more than the large chain store down the street cost them considerably more. Cut them some slack, and save them a few bucks by bringing your own bag.
2. Difference in Quality
Assessing quality isn’t scientific, but in some cases looking at labels will reveal that not all is equal. Taste, ingredients and process may be vastly different.
Some produce is more expensive because someone's in the back room, sorting through the vegetables before putting them on the floor rather than cutting open a box, slapping a sale sign on it, and hoping for the best. Buy one super-cheap yet half rotted onion, and you'll know what I mean.
And take meat, for example. Does the price of chicken or sliced ham seem too good to be true? Take a look at the percentage of saline on the label. Fifteen percent of the weight of conventional poultry is a solution of water and salt.
Specialty producers (often with a higher per-pound price point) are selling 100% meat, which may just balance the pricing out.
So—as with most grocery purchases—read labels and ask questions.
3. Different Supplier Deals
Some retailers lose the middleman (the distributor) and secure lower pricing directly from the makers.
Some grocery stores skips distributors, doesn’t take on debt, and pays its producers on delivery (instead of 30 to 90 days later, after that toothpaste has sold). This promise of quick payments helps secure lower pricing from the companies that stock the grocer's shelf.
Some retailers works with brands that lower their own margins to sell products en masse directly to the warehouse club. Often, producers make grocer-specific items that can't be found anywhere else and therefore aren't available for comparable pricing.
The Takeaway: Shop Around and Consider All the Factors
If you're lucky enough to have wiggle room in your wallet, consider the non-tangibles you value from your shopping experience when making purchases. Convenience, customer service, values (saving the planet!) and selection are all ways retailers can compete beyond price. And if you're on a strict budget, don't forget to consider your own time (or gas money) when driving around time for the next best deal.
Do you have any insights into your own local grocery stores and how or why they differ in price? It also never hurts to ask if they can match prices from one store to another, so it pays to know the spread.
