Port Elizabeth: MyPE - MyPE Comparison Shop

www.MyPE.co.za: On Saturday 24 October MyPE selected a 'basket of goods' and went off on a comparison shopping spree at the following stores; Pick 'n Pay William Moffet, Newton Park Superspar, Checkers Greenacres, Woolworths Greenacres and Shoprite Greenacres.

The rationale behind this comparison shop was to select a basket of 'essential' goods used by a family of four with one dog and one cat and do a comparison of what said basket of goods would cost this nuclear family for the week.

Please bear in mind that we have tried to reflect the goods and prices in an as real world as possible manner - if this comparison shop has taught us one thing it is that our perceptions of the different stores heavily influence our shopping patterns and store loyalty.

The findings were quite surprising and from cheapest to most expensive were:

The table below reflects the; Items Purchased, Estimated Quantity required by a family of four, The prices of these individual items at each store and the Total below each store reflects the Estimated Quantity multiplied by each Item Price.

Item	Quantity for Family of 4 per week	Pick 'n Pay William Moffet	Newton Park Superspar	Checkers Greenacres	Woolworths Greenacres	Shoprite Greenacres
Rice (Tastic 2 kg)	1	22.49	27.69	21.99	25.95	24.99
Sugar (Hullets 5 kg)	0.5	37.89	38.69	38.69	37.90	38.69
Flour (White Cake - Snowflake 2.5 kg)	0.5	15.99	15.99	13.89	16.95	14.99
Spaghetti (Fattis and Monis 500 gm)	2	8.69	7.49	6.99	11.95	6.99
All Bran (Kellogs 750 gm)	2	33.79	33.99	34.99	35.93	34.49
White Bread (Sasko)	7	7.99	7.99	7.29	7.95	5.99
Brown Bread (Sasko)	7	6.89	6.99	6.49	7.95	7.99
Fish Fingers (Sea Harvest 400 g)	2	19.99	19.99	17.99	21.31	23.99
Rump Steak (per kg)	3	74.95	79.99	74.99	89.99	81.99
Lean Mince (per kg)	4	49.95	29.95	48.99	49.90	48.99
Chicken (House Brand Whole per kg)	3	26.99	29.99	26.95	26.95	27.99
6 Large Eggs	2	7.79	8.99	7.49	11.95	8.59
Butter (Bonita 500 gm)	1	24.99	26.99	25.95	25.95	27.99
Milk (No Name Brand Sachet 1 l)	10	6.79	5.59	5.89	9.95	5.89
Cheese (House Brand per kg)	1	65.99	73.99	53.99	79.99	58.99
Coffee (Ciro 250 gm)	1	33.99	33.99	35.99	33.95	36.99
Tea (Lipton Yellow Label 100's)	0.5	25.99	24.99	24.99	24.95	24.99
Peanut Butter (Black Cat 800 gm)	1	28.99	28.99	29.89	29.75	29.89
Marmalade (All Gold 450 gm)	0.5	13.29	13.89	13.79	29.05	13.79
Onions (loose per kg)	1	8.99	10.99	8.99	10.99	8.99
Tomatoes (loose per kg)	1	10.99	13.99	14.99	17.99	14.99
Potatoes (loose per kg)	3	8.99	9.99	8.99	12.54	8.99
Cucumber (one)	2	6.99	5.95	5.69	5.99	5.99
Lettuce (single whole)	2	6.49	4.95	5.59	5.59	6.49
Bananas (loose per kg)	2	7.99	4.99	7.49	13.99	7.49
Apples (Granny Smith per 1.5 kg)	1	9.99	11.99	8.99	9.95	11.99
Oil (House Brand 2 l)	1	17.99	19.95	16.99	25.95	16.99
Dog Food (Vitagen Adult 8 kg)	0.5	89.99	68.95	74.99	105.95	74.99
Cat Food (Whiskas 2 kg)	1	59.99	72.99	77.99	83.98	77.99
Toilet Paper (1's Single Ply)	15	3.69	3.99	3.65	3.00	3.65
Soap (Protex 200 gm)	2	8.99	7.99	9.95	9.45	9.95
Shampoo (Tresseme 500 ml)	1	64.99	49.99	65.95	74.88	65.95
Dishwashing Liquid (Sunlight 750 ml)	1	16.99	18.99	16.49	16.95	16.99
Washing Powder (Omo 2 kg)	0.5	58.99	47.95	62.95	59.85	62.95
Chateau Libertas (750ml)	5	26.99	29.95	31.99	32.95	31.99
Graca (750 ml)	2	20.10	21.99	21.99	22.95	23.99
Total: (Quantity x Unit Price)		1624.04	1578.50	1628.00	1860.32	1688.21

Notes:

Checkers:

Couldn't find Graca so priced Versus instead

Woolworths:

No Hullets and no 5kg Sugar - price based on 2.5 kg House Brand
House Brand Spaghetti
Only stocked 500 gram All Bran
House Brand White and Brown Bread
House brand Fish Fingers 750 gram
No milk Sachets available
House Brand Coffee and Peanut Butter
House Brand Marmalade - 340 gram
Tomatoes, Potatoes and Bananas per 1 kg packet
House Brand Dog Food and ONLY 1 kg Whiskas on Shelves
No single toilet rolls - only 10's
No Tresseme - price based on cheapest 200 ml Shampoo
House Brand Red and White Wine

A comparison table such as the above is pretty meaningless without some form of comment about each store:

Newton Park Superspar

Pro's: Clean Trolleys and Store, Easy Layout, Quickest Shop, helpful staff.
Con's: The Apprentice Longhair added a Jonas Brothers magazine (Don't forget to sign her Jonas Brothers Petition) to the trolley. At the checkout the cashier had to manually ring the price up which he did as R17.99 which was incorrect and should have been R17.95. It was pointed out and he said that the rounding would take care of it - WRONG, especially when you pay by credit card. So, Mr Cashier, as promised you get a BAD mention on MyPE - it is the TINY little things that count my son.

Pick 'n Pay William Moffet

Pro's: Huge Range, Pro-active Fish shop staff
Con's: Dirty Trolleys. Staff unhelpful - example: Question; "Do You work in this aisle?". Answer; "No", and he just walked away. The correct answer should have been; "No, but I will try and assist you."

Checkers Greenacres

Pro's: Second Quickest Shop, second easiest layout.
Con's: Aisles way to narrow, the marketing of their wine shop does not match with the selection, not one smiling staff member.

Shoprite Greenacres

Pro's: Widest Aisles
Con's: Struggled to find the cheese, dirtiest shop, I was shocked that the chicken seemed to be the most expensive but the quickest mover.

Woolworths Greenacres

Pro's: That upmarket feeling, attractive packaging
Con's: Customers ("Mam, the next time you attempt to mow me down with your trolley I will deflate your trolley wheels!"), What is it with the black shelves and packing cases? (My Mom always taught me that black hides germs). I saw one shopper abandon his cart as he couldn't find a specific item, nor a staff member to help.

If time is money in your life then the two stores to patronise are Newton Park Superspar or Checkers Greenacres - my journeys around both were very quick.

What puzzles me about store layouts is the oftentimes strange way in which different products are placed and how that, in product areas where people are apt to 'browse', the aisles are woefully inadequate in size. I for one will rather abandon my shop than take something which I do not want.

If there is one thing that I have become 'blind' to is the 'walk of death' as you push your trolley closer to checkout. Every single damn shop has an array of small sweet items placed just within reach of the glazed doughnut monsters who beg and plead with their parents to buy them these sugary treats. Of course you also get the scheming little monsters who idly toss these items into the family trolley when Mom and Dad are not looking. Not cool shop owners, not cool.

One other thing that irritates the hell out of me is when products and prices are 'hidden away' below knee height. Maybe one day, layout planners will utilise the space below knee height for storage of GENUINE Bulk Buy offers of the products that are directly above and more visible. Wouldn't it be great to have a push button to summon a staff member to retrieve your bulk buy items of choice?

Many years ago I did some work at a large privately owned supermarket in Veeplaas. Now, this owner had his sales pitch waxed. Whenever a Mother and her child/ren entered the store he had a runner fetch a trolley and push it around the store for the shopper, giving advice and doing a subtle sales pitch whilst making the shopper's life a lot easier.

If you have a suggestion of key value items or a set of shops that you would like to see included in the next MyPE shop please contact me.

If you are a supermarket owner wishing to moan and groan then please don't bother contacting MyPE, BUT, if you want to rescue your tattered reputation and indulge in a bit of advertising on MyPE then contact Janine.