Judicious planning of holiday shopping pays off, survey shows
A survey recently conducted by the Israel Consumer Council, involving a basket of 55 items, shed light on price fluctuations at the various nationwide chains, as shoppers take to the stores ahead of Rosh Hashana.
It found that the basket of holiday purchases at Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd. is 30% cheaper than the same basket sold at Tiv Taam Holdings 1 Ltd.
Also among the cheapest chains was Osher Ad. The same basket cost NIS 671 at Rami Levy, NIS 684 at Osher Ad, and NIS 954 at Tiv Taam.
The average price of the basket at the chains examined was NIS 804, close to the price at the Yeinot Bittan (NIS 808), Hatzi Hinam (NIS 815) and Shufersal Deal (NIS 818).
As expected, chains located in densely populated urban areas were relatively expensive: examples include Mega B’Ir (NIS 907), Shufersal Sheli (NIS 886), and Yesh Bashchuna (NIS 842).
Chains that charged less than the average price for the basket included Machsaney Hashuk (NIS 744), Yochananof (NIS 751), Victory Supermarket Chain Ltd. (TASE: VCTR) (NIS 754) and Shufersal Deal Extra (NIS 783).
One important conclusion reached by the Consumer Council in its examination was that prices were lower than last year at most of the chains, and where the price was not lower, it stayed about the same.
The price of Osher Ad’s basket for example fell 13%, and those of Yochananof and Machsaney Hashuk were 7% cheaper. Prices at Victory and Rami Levy were 4% lower than last year, and prices at Shufersal Deal, Yesh Hesed, and Yesh Bashchuna remained the same.
The prices were examined on September 10, according to figures sent by the chains to the Internet prices database (and produced using a prices platform). The price did not include the online purchases.
Bargains were taken into account, except for club member and credit card bargains, which are obviously likely to affect the final price of the basket. It is also important to take into account that the shopping basket surveys before the holiday have also become a tradition for the chains, which time their bargains for the surveys.
Shopping basket
Another check by the Consumer Council Semel Patrol involves products identified with Rosh Hashana: honey, wine, gefilte fish and apples. In some cases, the differences between the prices at different chains were huge. For example, a 350-ml. jar of Yad Mordecai honey cost NIS 6.80 at Osher Ad, compared with NIS 24 at Tiv Taam.
A 500-ml. jar of pure Yad Mordecai honey was sold for NIS 16.70 at Rami Levy and up to NIS 30 at Tiv Taam.
Varying differences between prices of wine and fish as well lead to the conclusion that it is sometimes worth considering splitting up purchases and buying the products on sale at each chain.
“Major price differences”
“The cost of living has been more than just a slogan for a long time,” says Consumer Council CEO Josh Goldschmidt. “Almost every consumer feels it, each according to his lifestyle and the constraints he faces. These constraints sometime lead us to a state in which we have no choice, but in the retail field in general, and especially for food, we, the consumers, have freedom of choice. Judicious planning of holiday shopping is likely to make it cheaper by hundreds of shekels.”