Supermarket Wars - Australia’s Most Popular Supermarket
Last week saw Coles deliver a bumper result for shareholders, delivering increased sales, price reductions, and a 15% lift in shares. Woolworths hasn’t been so lucky, with declining performance and a 19% drop in the share price since last Tuesday.
Responding to results, Fox & Hedgehog went into the field to dig up who is Australia’s most favoured supermarket. Our poll finds that despite a narrowing between Australia’s two major supermarkets, Woolworths continues to lead Coles in the contest for Australians’ next grocery shop.
When asked where Australians are most likely to visit for their next grocery shop, Woolworths leads on 43%, and Coles follows at 40%, with Aldi at 14% and IGA at 3%.
Loyalty - Our polling also found supermarket loyalty is remarkably strong. Just 28% of Australians describe themselves as open to changing their mind for where they next shop—that makes supermarket shopper loyalty even stronger than political voting intention at state and federal elections. Shoppers at Aldi and IGA are more open to switching, while Coles and Woolworths customers show entrenched loyalty to the majors players.
Perceived Quality - When ranking the “best” supermarkets, Woolworths also leads, with 39% rating it best compared to 35% for Coles. Aldi significantly outperforms its market share. While just 14% intend to shop there next, 21% rate Aldi as Australia’s “best” supermarket — a clear signal that Aldi’s brand appeal runs ahead of its store footprint.
Two-Supermarket Preferred (2SP) - Former Independent MP Zoe Daniel once referred to the Liberal and Labor parties as “the Coles and Woolworths” of politics in Australia. We decided to test how true this really was by running a “supermarket election”. In a compulsory-preferential ballot, Woolworths edges out Coles 52.8% to 47.2% as Australia’s best supermarket. Aldi shoppers lean slightly toward Coles, while IGA shoppers overwhelmingly flow to Woolworths, likely due to Woolworth’s higher store footprint in regional areas.
Our full report is available here: https://tinyurl.com/4f52637y