Cheaper supermarkets, Altroconsumo: here’s how to save up to 3,350 euros

MILAN – Squeezed between galloping inflation and increasingly high energy billsfamilies are working to make ends meet. The “shopping cart”says Istat, in August it jumped again by 9.7%, surpassing the progression of the general price index (+ 8.4%) which in any case is at its highest since 1985. So here we are aiming for offers, products below cost, to supermarkets that set their offer precisely on convenience. And, as it turns out from Altroconsumo’s annual survey on large-scale distribution, it is precisely by relying on discount stores that savings of 3,350 euros per year can be achieved, not a little since, again for Istast, the average expenditure of a family at the supermarket is 8,550. EUR. Let’s see how.

Prices are growing, even at discount stores

The survey by the consumer association actually shows that prices have risen even at discount stores, more than the average of super and hypermarkets. According to Altroconsumo, comparing the prices recorded in March 2022 with those of the previous edition (May 2021), “it emerges that the prices of supermarkets and hypermarkets are growing by only 1%, while discount stores are the points of sale that most of all have increased the prices of their products (+ 5.2% on average) while remaining cheaper for economic spending “. The strategy of traditional supermarkets – how reported an investigation from Republic a few months ago – it is increasingly that of resorting to private labels, that is products branded with the supermarket logo or in any case internal lines, which “currently cover 20% of total sales, but by 2030 will touch 25%, according to forecasts “.

Where is the convenience

To verify where the shopping cart is lighter, Altroconsumo has simulated different ways of filling it: a “mixed shopping”, one made only of the cheapest products on the shelf, one with branded products and one with private label. In the first case, of mixed shopping, at the top of the savings chart “we find Famila Superstore and Dok as the cheapest supermarket and hypermarket brands. Otherwise, Carrefour and Bennet are at the bottom of the ranking, as they are 11-12% more expensive. As regards the discount stores, a separate table has been compiled, since in this distribution channel there is no assortment of branded products comparable to that of hyper and super. In first place, Eurospin, where savings of up to 16% compared to to the most expensive discount, which once again this year is confirmed to be Todis “.

If you focus your purchases on cheaper products, there is no match. “In the first 7 places in the ranking of the cheapest shopping in absolute terms, there are only discounters, at the top Aldi and Eurospin, this year with equal merit – whose prices are 34% lower than the last classified brand, Carrefour Market. Behind the discounters we find the Esselunga Superstore and Esselunga supermarkets, with prices on average 9 and 12% higher than those of the discounters in the lead. Many Italians do not want to deprive themselves of branded products, but it is more difficult to save by preferring only this type of expense: according to the ranking for branded products, Esselunga allows it, in fact it is possible to save up to 9% compared to the expensive Carrefour Market, in last place. Finally, as regards commercial brand products, from the fifth position of the 2021 Carrefour climbs to the top of the 2022 ranking, thus subtracting the place from Conad. Instead, the least economic are Bennet, Eurospar and Esselunga: they are in fact more expensive than 19%, 18% and 16% compared to those of Carrefour “.

The maps of convenience: greater savings possible in Parma

Another way to save is to select the location of the supermarkets. In this sense, “it is in Parma that you can save the most (18%, which is equivalent to 1,410 euros a year), choosing the cheapest point of sale between super and hyper visited (Esselunga Superstore) instead of the most salty (Sigma). It is possible to save a lot by choosing the cheapest shop in other cities of Northern Italy as well, such as Venice, Bologna, Ravenna and Vicenza. On the contrary, in Teramo, Taranto and Potenza, the maximum possible saving ranges between 145 and 220 € (2-3%); the Center-South, moreover, is also the area of ​​the country where people spend the most for shopping at the supermarkets and hypermarkets visited “.

The price map overturns the usual convictions and Altroconsumo finds “great differences between North and Center-South, to the detriment of the latter, even if there have been some changes compared to 2021. Until last year, 70% of the top 30 cheaper points of sale were located in the Triveneto, now the percentage has dropped to 40%. The first shops in the Center-South appear in the ranking already at the fourteenth and fifteenth position (in 2021 it was necessary to wait for the fortieth): it is Coop-Fi di Sesto Fiorentino and Spesa 365 in Bari. The cheapest point of sale among those visited remains Emisfero di Vicenza, followed by Mega in Treviso and Esselunga in Mantua. The most expensive supermarket in the survey, on the other hand, is Sigma in Ravenna, followed by Coop in Venice and Sigma di Parma “.

But even within the same city there are strong differences, basically between the center and the periphery. Altroconsumo gives an example: “Chante Clair Liquid Laundry Detergent (35 washes) in Milan records a price difference of 173% between the Ipercoop stores in Piazza Lodi (€ 2.75) and Pam in Viale Sabotino (7, € 50). Even in Rome, Caffè Splendid Espresso Bar (500 g) costs € 2.32 in the Doc in Via Torresina and € 5.89 in the Tigre in via Montebuono and viale Liegi, recording a variation of 154%. In Naples the Garnier Fructis Shampoo for greasy hair (250 ml) costs € 1.29 at Conad in via Roma and via Consalvo or Conad Superstore in piazza Madonna dell’Arco; instead, we find it for € 2.69 at the Decò Maxistore in via Provinciale Botteghelle. Finally, in Palermo there is a 100% difference between the confection of Findus cod sticks (450 g) purchased in Conad Superstore in via Villagrazia (€ 2.79) versus those in Spazio Conad in via Giuseppe Lanza di Scalea (5, € 59) “.

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