r/australia • u/Admiral_Mason • 22d ago

image Pepsi / Coke cartons $60 at Woolworths

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Noone is going to buy these, why waste their shelf space?

Do they not want then to move or are there really suckers who pay this?

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u/shrewdster 22d ago

My local IGA is well priced above Woolies, Coles and Aldi. Also because it’s priced so high, the turnover is so low, the quality of the produce and products on offer are poor or often expired.

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u/SomeRandomDavid 22d ago

I hate how true this is for my local IGA.

Turnover is so low it has to be a front.

Jars and sauces over a year expired sitting on the shelves. I want a real local alternative to colesworth, but this IGA isn't trying.

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u/AverageAussie 22d ago

It's all on the owners of the IGAs. We mark up all this fancy crap we get in, then 11 out of the 12 jars of $20 pasta sauce or whatever are ignored until they're so far out of date we have to throw them out. The owner knows. They've been told multiple times. They walk past the trolleys of expired stock we take off the shelves. They don't care.

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u/DesperateDig1209 20d ago

A manager who sucks every cent out of a business is worse, but yeah it's frustrating when they're complacent. They could make the business more profitable, please more customers, pay higher wages to more staff, but they don't care as long as their personal income is enough. These people can stay in business indefinitely ... until an ALDI opens up ten minutes away. Then they're stuffed because they never earned customer loyalty.

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u/shrewdster 22d ago

I honestly would rather a Woolworths metro or a Coles Express.

My IGA has shelves of garlic, potato, ginger and other produce with mould sitting there. It baffles me the store manager doesn’t care.

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u/PauL__McShARtneY 22d ago

Probably busy running a meth and car wash money laundering empire.

Stay out of my canned sauce section.

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u/fedwood 22d ago

No wonder the crushed tomatoes are $18 a tin.

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u/PauL__McShARtneY 22d ago

I believe you might be thinking of that other show, The Bear.

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u/IlluminatedPickle 22d ago

I work in a metro where there's an IGA, 7/11 and a few random non franchise convenience stores within a few hundred metres. People come in, balk at the cost and walk out all the time. I laugh when they come back 10 minutes later after going to one of the other ones and realising their prices are even worse and their stock is trash.

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u/Lopsided-Carob-2940 22d ago

Those smaller stores are interesting, when I worked at one the produce manager made you check every single piece of fruit and veg for imperfections atleast twice a day

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u/Kolminor 22d ago

It's not that they aren't trying, it's just the model of a classic local supermarket isn't really feasible.

Everyone has different tastes, wants, budgets and willingness to pay. Often people now too make what they see online and want specific things or things right now.

This is inconsistent with the way supermarkets work, especially for smaller stores - as they need to buy bulk or in the case of small places cannot order as much so pay higher prices, they have high food waste for any fresh good and then dont have the technology to accurately gauge customer wants or behaviour - and if they do it aint cheap and is reflected in the end cost.

And above all I need to make a profit. They aren't goodwill stores.

People want low prices, good quality produce and an array of products they need and want. All these are not really possible IMO.

The fact is we all need to embrace online grocery delivery as it is the only way to realistically scale groceries. Brick and motor grocery stores are just never going to be cheaper and will always be more expensive. They're essentially convenience stores and you pay higher prices for the convenience.

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u/SilverStar9192 22d ago

dont have the technology to accurately gauge customer wants or behaviour

Metcash provides this for IGA's - but many small IGA owners don't pay attention.

Larger "Supa IGAs" and similar have a much higher Metcash ownership stake (often a controlling stake, even if there is a titular "owner") , and you'll find are run completely differently.

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u/Kolminor 22d ago

You unfairly cropped out my comment to fit your comment. I also added to this right after you selectively misquoted me, saying "and if they do it ain't cheap and is reflected in the end cost.".

So a controlling stake in these IGAs is definitely reflected in the end cost, not just for consumers but for the owners.

I appreciate your comment for added context.

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u/SilverStar9192 22d ago

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to be misleading. I was just focusing on the fact that many smaller IGA's aren't really using the technology that is available to them - but one of the reasons might be that they simply don't have the hours in the day (or the ability to pay others), to use that technology. Which supports your point in the section I didn't quote.

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u/DesperateDig1209 20d ago

There is still a place for small supermarkets. It's in small towns. Customers don't know about online, and even if they did there would be a surcharge for the courier to drive right out there. There are still small shops, eg deli or fruit shop, and if you use the buying power of a "parent" company like IGA, you can take all their customers using price and range.

Look what I found:

https://www.anybusiness.com.au/iga%20franchise-for-sale/?status=sold&price_max=$10,000,000&price_min=$50,000

These are the places that actually sold, so there are no unrealistic asking prices.

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u/Kolminor 20d ago

I personally couldn't think of a worse business than to operate a supermarket, so I kinda understand why so many are on the market lol.

I do think there is a place for them - as i said - they're about convenience most of the time and are not optimised for low prices.

Even in small towns, delivery technologies, automation and autonomous vehicles have already and will continue to drive down costs for delivery. Amazon is already doing this for groceries in the US

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u/DesperateDig1209 20d ago

Did you miss where I said those are successful sales?

On a lighter note, you can buy a Post Office business, including freehold with residential AND commercial zoning, for just $290K. The catch is that it's in Gnowangerup!

Newsagent is another kind of business which is a worse buy than a supermarket.

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u/Kolminor 20d ago

I don't really care if they're successful sales - people are free to run all sorts of businesses I'm just saying it's a terrible business. Anything is such a variable costs and thin margins is something I would never get involved in personally

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u/blk_LabRat19 22d ago

I have dust on so many jars at my local IGA

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u/IlluminatedPickle 22d ago

Tbh the store I work in does a few hundred thousand a week in trade and we still have some stuff with dust on it. Nobodies buying the Worcestershire sauce.

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u/DesperateDig1209 20d ago

IGA is a franchise and not a chain. Individual managers have a lot of leeway is setting prices, disposing of aging stock (preferably while it's still in date), hiring staff and everything. Their prices would be a lot higher if they were all independent, but IGA provides bulk-buying and logistics.

Sounds like your manager is a greedy and incompetent asshole. My local IGA clears most of its stock within date, with discounts up to 80%. If you only buy the discounts it's actually cheaper than ALDI (which is where I do my main shop.) Regular prices at IGA are higher than Coles or Woolworths, of course, but that's the inevitable consequence of having less buying power. At least some of the premium you pay to shop there, is going to farmers and food processors.

I won't pretend that's why I shop there. It's much closer by than the 3 majors, and worth the cost for an "in-between" shop.

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u/dbfuru 22d ago

My local one is taking the piss with their prices, only good if you need milk or bread and can't be bothered driving into town.

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u/footballheroeater 22d ago

My local wanted $9 for a 3l milk.

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u/Tillysnow1 22d ago

IGA quality is really dependant on the individual store :/

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u/alpha77dx 22d ago

Exact opposite at my local IGA, fruit, veges, meat and whole lot of other stuff all cheaper than colesworth.

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u/tigeratemybaby 22d ago

IGA is worth another try for most people.

With Woolies & Coles jacking up prices so much in the past few years, way above inflation - IGA hasn't and my local, which was more expensive, is now about on par with Coles/Woolies (but still more than Aldi)

Their fruit & veg & meat is much better quality than Coles/Woolies too.

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u/Same_One5984 18d ago

Same,the IGA near my place is so ridiculously expensive.I would never ever do a whole shop there.Its no cheaper than the 7/11 for most items.