Filling up the trolley is about to get cheaper as IGA takes on Coles and Woolworths

SOPHIE ELSWORTH
JUNE 22, 2015
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA NETWORK
EXCLUSIVE: A WAR on the supermarket duopoly has begun with IGA launching a price-matching attack that is set to take on rivals Coles and Woolworths and reduce costs at the check-out.
The smaller competitor has dropped its prices on more than 2000 items, leaving more money in customers’ pockets and is a move tipped to shake up the Australian grocery market.
The price match promise is understood to be IGA’s biggest-ever competitive attack and will see them match the lower price of the same item sold that is cheapest among the two supermarket kings.
The dropping of prices will be rolled out across IGA’s 800 plus stores on items ranging from breakfast cereals, baked beans, coffee and pasta to nappies and deodorant.
The move by Metcash, the owner of the Independent Grocers of Australia, is set to ignite more competition in the lopsided supermarket pie.
SUPA IGA store owner Tony Ingpen, who runs a store at Mount Evelyn in Melbourne’s northeast, said it was time to “take on the big boys.”
“Slowly we’ve lost the full basket shop, this is all about making us a better place to do your primary shop,’’ he said.
“We can fight Coles and Woolworths but we need to be getting on a level-playing field.
“Everyone is time poor and they want to shop close and they want to get value so this is delivering value.
“This is the revamp we need, we are fighting the fight with the big supermarket and we want customers to know they can come here and do their full shop.”
Prior to pricematching on a two-litre container of Streets Blue Ribbon ice cream, IGA charged $6.96 but it has now dropped to the same as Coles at $4.90.
On a Whiskas 400g of catfood it has fallen from $1.66 to $1.35.
IGA National Council chairman Ben Ryan said they began trialling pricing matching 18 months after conceding some of their prices failed to be as competitive as they could have been.
“Some of them (price drops) are in the dollars while other are 20, 30, 40 or 50 cents,’’ he said.
“We are closing the gap on price for our customers.
“They can absolutely see the savings in their back pocket.”
Professor Stephen King from Monash University is a former member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and said this was a “win for consumers.”
“Metcash has been over a seven or eight-year period the silent loser of the supermarket wars,’’ he said.
“They clearly want to lose the high price tag.”
Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said it was “great news” for shoppers that IGA were becoming more competitive on price.
“Our recent supermarket basket survey found IGA was eight per cent more expensive than Coles and Woolies, so this is very welcome news for consumers who are struggling to make ends meet,’’ he said.
“Anything that takes the pain out at the check-out and provides additional competition is very welcome news.”
Originally published as Coles, Woolies face new price war