Grocery ‘wars’ – how we’re shopping smart

Consumers are battling cost-of-living pressures by “buying down” – counting the dollars and cents and making difficult decisions to put more in the shopping trolley at less cost.

While nine out of 10 Australians are facing higher costs, it’s the poorest households – the bottom 20% in terms of income – who are hardest hit by rising prices and are having to tighten their belts the most.

It’s predicted their shopping expenditure will be slashed by $1 billion between 2020 and 2024 as their budgets and shopping power are eroded by rising rents, utility bills, fuel, and other cost-of-living expenses.

Reports suggest shoppers are cutting back on what used to be household essentials: kitchen cleaners, body wash, sponges, wipes and bathroom disinfectants.

Sales figures from supermarket Coles, obtained by The Australian, show shopping for personal health and household cleaning has dramatically changed.

During the past year, bath soap and body wash sales have plummeted by 33.3%, with volumes down even further at 38.5%. Former growth categories such as scourers and sponges, multipurpose cleaning sprays, and carpet cleaners are also on the slide.

Sales of hand sanitiser soaps and washes were down 29.8%, environmentally friendly cleaning products down 15.9%, and carpet cleaning products sales down 10.9%.

Purchasing cheap “home brand” products and buying in bulk are two strategies being used by frugal shoppers.

The humble bar of soap (or family five-pack) is making a comeback. People are realising they can get up to five weeks out of one soap bar compared to only one week out of a 250ml bottle of body or hand wash.

Consumer group CHOICE‘s national Consumer Pulse survey shows 94% of Australians are dealing with increased costs, and 87% are worried about paying for food.

It's a large jump from January 2021, when just 56% of survey respondents said they were worried about food costs.

The cost of electricity is another big concern. In March this year, 79% said they were worried about paying for power. That had risen to 85% by June.

CHOICE says this is the highest level of worry about electricity costs in eight years of quarterly national surveys.

The price of fuel is yet another issue, with 81% of households worried about being able to afford petrol.

The survey shows about one in four Australians (24%) are finding it hard to make ends meet on their current incomes, while just under a third (32%) are financially comfortable. Almost half of us (44%) are just getting by.

Within that variation there is some common ground: 60% of Australians say they're worried about having any disposable income left, and more than half (55%) have cut back on non-essential spending. Four out of 10 have cut back on essentials such as groceries, energy and fuel.