Woolworths food prices: Fruit, vegies sold per item online, per kg in store
Fruit and vegies are priced differently online versus in store at Woolworths. We show you how much you can save on what.
Woolworths is offering online customers fixed “per item” prices on loose bananas, apples, oranges and even tomatoes, despite variations in size, while in-store customers must pay by the kilo.
Analysis of Woolworths’ top-selling fruit lines in just one of its stores last week, showed its “per item” pricing was delivering significant discounts to online customers, compared to having to buy on a per kilogram basis in store.
The cost of buying eight, average-sized pink lady apples in Woolworths Fitzroy store last week was $8.37, compared to an online purchase of 69 cents each, for a total of $5.52.
It was a similar story for other fresh produce, such as pears, where the in-store price for eight of the red angel variety (weighted using Woolworths tared scales) was $8.72, compared to $12.98 in store.
The clearest example of how online value can vary was seen with bananas, where paying a fixed price of 81 cents per item advantaged customers lucky enough the get large fruit, while those getting smaller fruit paid up to 30 per cent more.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission single-pricing guidelines state that “if multiple different prices are displayed on a product or in advertising, the business has to fix the display or sell you the item for the lowest price”.
But a Woolworths spokeswoman said “for loose fruit and veg priced by the piece online, Woolworths does not also provide per kilogram indications, in line with trade measurement requirements.
“We provide a set price per piece to make their shop easier and ensure they know exactly what they’ll pay”.
Yet rival Coles clearly states its online per item prices for bananas, apples and other loose produce are “an estimate”, with customers still charged the same per kilogram price as those shopping in store.
The issue of varying prices has come to the fore as more families move to online shopping in the wake of Covid restriction.
Victorian Farmers Federation president and horticultural grower Emma Germano said the differences in pricing meant there was “a lack of transparency for consumers on what they are paying for and their ability to compare prices across the supermarkets.
“It undermines confidence. Are they getting overcharged or getting a discount?”
An ACCC spokesman said under the Australian Consumer Law business could have different online and in-store pricing, but it must be clearly disclosed to consumers.
“The ACL prohibits businesses engaging in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, this includes advertising in relation to prices for goods or services,” the ACCC spokeswoman said.
MORE
Report into foreign ownership of Aussie farm land finally released
The tax office has released its report from the register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Agricultural Land, 17 months late.
Farmers question taxpayer subsidies for electric trucks
The federal government is awarding millions of dollars’ worth of grants to some of Australia’s biggest businesses to purchase new electric trucks.