Which Grocery Store Has The Cheapest Grocery Prices?

Which Grocery Store has the Best Prices?

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We are often asked which grocery store has the best prices? Or which grocery store is cheapest. Or which is the best grocery store to shop at?

It seems that many people are looking for a “silver bullet,” or a magic formula to saving money at the grocery store.

In this Q&A we address the issue of where to shop and how to save the most money at the grocery store.

Is there a Best Grocery Store for Prices?

I’ve watched many of your YouTube Grocery Shopping videos and really want to cut my grocery bill down. Can you tell me which grocery store is the cheapest – where can I save the most money?

We’re asked this question all of the time at seminars and by reporters. The truth is that all stores will advertise something as a killer sale each week. These weekly sale items are called loss leaders.

The Largest Grocery Chains in the United States

  1. Kroger Co. U.S. — $119.0 Billion
  2. Albertsons Companies  (Safeway) — $59.9 Billion
  3. Publix Super Markets, Inc. — $34.8 Billion
  4. Aldi — $28.78 Billion
  5. H.E.B. Grocery Co — $24.6 Billion
  6. Neighborhood Market (Walmart) — $18.83 Billion
  7. ShopRite — $16.57 Billion
  8. Whole Foods (Amazon) — $15.95 Billion
  9. Hy-vee, Inc — $10 Billion
  10. Southeastern Grocers, LLC — $9.5 Billion

(Soures: TheBalance and Statista)

Grocery Ads have Loss Leaders/ Sale Items

Loss Leaders are products that stores use to entice shoppers to come in and shop. The products usually are steeply discounted items where the profit margin is either very slim or non-existent for the grocer.

For example, around Thanksgiving time turkeys go on sale. We were told by a marketing department employee of a retail grocer that when they sell Thanksgiving turkeys for between $.29 and .$.49 per pound they actually lose money. The wholesale price for the turkeys is around  $.89 per pound.

This particular retailer is willing to lose up to 40 cents per pound ($8 on a 20-pound turkey) in the hopes that you’ll come into the store and buy the loss leader along with many other full price items.

“Cherry Picking” for Best Grocery Store Prices

If you have time and know your Grocery prices, you can become a “cherry picker.” This is someone who just stops by the store for the loss leaders and buys nothing else. Grocers probably don’t like cherry pickers, but this is one sure-fire way to save on your grocery bill.

Cherry Picking loss leaders will fill your freezer and pantry with low-cost food while keeping your wallet stocked with excess cash. As you learn which prices are best and stock up judiciously on sale items, grocery shopping will become a game you’ll love to win.

Shopping Multiple Grocery Stores

Planning your menu and your shopping list around loss-leaders is a smart, money-saving strategy. But this strategy does require a little more driving around to complete your shopping. So the answer to your question about best grocery store prices is this, “none.”

There isn’t one store that has the best prices, but shopping a combination of several stores will garner you some great savings. However, there is another answer to this question. . . keep reading.

A Different Shopping Option

There is another way to shop for loss-leaders and rack up lots of savings.

Target is the only nationwide retailer left with a policy of price-matching groceries. They offer to match other retailers and online sellers for identical items that they sell. There are some restrictions, and the policy can be different from store to store, depending on the store’s location and the competition in the area.

Related Article: Stores that Will Price Match Amazon Today!

How We Price Match Groceries

Here are 8  things we do to make Price-Match an easier way to shop.

When we prepare a price-match shopping list we simply use a sheet of lined notebook paper. (see the image below this list)

Create a Price Match List  

On the paper, we write the name of each store in our area and then leave a few lines below it to fill in the sale items we want to purchase.

Circle Loss-Leaders   

We go through each store’s ad and circle items that are discounted and that we need to buy.

Add Sale Items to the List 

We then list the items on our notebook paper.

Evaluate Duplicates  

Often several stores will have the same item discounted, but only one store will have it at the lowest price. Make sure to cross off the higher priced items listed under the different stores on your list.

Add quantities

We add the quantities of each item we want to buy and we’re ready to go.

Keeping it Straight in the Cart

If we’re buying price-matched items and regularly priced items we’ll use 2 carts and keep the items separated.

Be Kind to the Checker 

At the checkout, we’ll always let the checker know that we have several items that are Price-Matched. We’ll start with regularly priced items and then put a divider on the conveyor belt to indicate where the price-matched items start.

Have Your Ads Ready

Because we’re very organized we are seldom asked to provide proof of which store and price we are matching. But there are times when we are asked to produce the ad and prove the discounted price. Sometimes the checker will disallow an item we thought qualified for their price-match policy. In this case, we either say we don’t want the item, or we agree to purchase it anyway because it was something we really needed or wanted. We try to remember that cashiers are just doing their job, so we don’t get upset and move on. Occasionally we have asked for clarification from a front-end manager.

Walmart Price-Match shopping list on notebook paper.
Click on the image to see a larger, more readable version.

Which Grocery Store is Cheapest? Wrap-Up

So in reality, the answer to your question about which store has the cheapest prices is a bit complicated. No one store has the best grocery store prices for all of your grocery shopping, but if you follow our Price-Match strategy, then there is one store where you can shop and see significant savings.

So, how do you shop? Are you loyal to one or two stores or do you cherry pick?

5 thoughts on “Which Grocery Store Has The Cheapest Grocery Prices?

  1. Olivia

    We recently moved and are just getting the hang of the area. I’m considering taking a trek to our old neighborhood to the salvage grocer once a month, and do loss leaders locally at the regular grocers. Walmart is a distance, since there’s just the two of us at home, and we no longer have room for a freezer, a trip there would be a wash. We’ve found every location has it’s own quirks. When we lived in SD we were part of a food coop and bought milk from a local farmer. When we lived in our old location in PA we had farm stands, a salvage grocer, and a farm lady who sold eggs. My sister in FL can get mangoes off of trees, but here they cost $1 each on sale. Since the alternative sources didn’t have store flyers, Walmart wouldn’t have price matched anyway, but their prices were still much cheaper than conventional sources.

  2. Marcy

    I gather all the sales ads from local stores, get all my coupons together and head to Wal-Mart. Their regular prices are usually more expensive BUT they price match any competitors ad. This saves my time and money and still allows me to get the best deal possible.

  3. Holly

    I get the sales flyers from the 3 major stores (except Walmart) in our area. I can cherry pick from 2 of them and get the discount even if I do not buy the quantities listed on the sale price such as 4 for $12. I can get only 1 for $3. Unfortunately, the third store has a stipulation that you must buy $35 worth of other groceries to get the sale price and/or you must buy all 4 to get the sale price. I usually buy my meats from the first 2 and staples from Walmart. Regular price at Walmart is usually less than the sale price at the other stores. AND if you buy Walmart’s brand, Equate, you save even more…

  4. Heather Weaver

    My father and myself are in between jobs, so we stick to two stores that are in close driving distance to our home. They both have great sales from time to time. However, I’ll try and wait till an item goes on sale and use a coupon with it, before I buy it. For us it’s saving gas, because we need that to look for jobs first. However, I stick to two particular stores really loyally. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather Weather

  5. Candi

    I shop at a locally owned grocery store in Oregon, Sherm’s Thunderbird. They offer the lowest prices around even though there’s a Walmart right down the street. Walmart’s food prices are actually a lot higher. I also visit one other store, Fred Myers, for items on sale. Unfortunately, our local newspaper does not have inserted coupons, which I really miss. When I lived in California I used to cherry pick at Safeway, with coupons, and loved it.

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