Saving money on groceries is becoming more important than ever as inflation rises at a rate not seen in decades. Unfortunately, many Americans are already living paycheck to paycheck and can’t handle rising food prices. For families struggling or looking for ways to save money, one alternative might be to change grocery stores.
The term “cheapest grocery store” doesn’t have to have a negative connotation. There are many cheap grocery stores who continue to provide a high quality grocery selection. Some of these stores may not have all the bells and whistles of a higher end grocery store, but that doesn’t mean the products aren’t as good.
In the second annual Retail Price Index (RPI) survey completed Dunhamby, the following ten stores ranked among the cheapest grocery stores. Of the 50+ grocery stores included in the survey, the top 10 by price are listed below.
Top 10 Cheapest Grocery Stores
Aldi
Aldi is a no frills store that offers high quality food, timely customer service, low prices every day and a similar store layout for a quick and easy shopping experience. Aldi stores are located throughout the country, but mostly in the Midwest and along the East Coast. West of Kansas, you can only find Aldi stores in California and Arizona.
Aldi is known for keeping prices low with a wide range of private labels including Simply Nature, liveGfree and Earth Growth. While Aldi is low cost oriented, they offer a wide selection of organic and non-GMO products. In addition, Aldi’s quality assurance team adheres to strict guidelines for maintaining strict quality guidelines.
Savings are passed on to the customer without sacrificing quality, thanks to Aldi’s ruthless efficiency and concentration on private labels. Aldi also has low corporate overheads, further reducing costs. For example, Aldi uses a contract recruiters for most jobs instead of hiring from home.
market basket
Market Basket is a 100 year old grocery chain in the northeast. Market Basket operates 90 stores in four states: 53 stores in its home state of Massachusetts, 33 local stores in New Hampshire, two stores in Maine, and two stores in Rhode Island.
Like Aldi, Market Basket has a reputation for treating its employees well. Full-time employees receive benefits such as a profit-sharing program, medical care, and sick leave. Besides, market basket keeps costs low by taking care of the majority of their distribution, making sure all stores sell the same products, and maintaining strong relationships with the suppliers that matter most to their company. It also helps that Market Basket is debt-free and has lower corporate overheads than its peers.
Vinco Foods
WinCo Foods is a privately owned supermarket chain primarily owned by employees. WinCo is based in Boise, Idaho and has offices in eight other states in the western half of the United States. WinCo has 136 retail stores, six distribution centers and over 20,000 employees.
Vinco Foods keeps its costs low by cutting out distributors and middlemen and purchasing many goods directly from farms and factories. As a result, WinCo stores are minimalist, with few frills and options compared to larger grocery chains. In addition, WinCo Foods does not accept credit card payments and customers must bring their own bags, which keeps prices down.
WinCo also offers benefits to employees working more than 24 hours a week and a corporate pension. There seems to be a trend in these three cheapest grocery stores to be ruthlessly efficient and treat their employees well.
Meal 4 less
Food 4 Less is the name of several grocery chains, many of which are owned by Kroeger. Several Food 4 Less stores are scattered throughout the United States, including Falley’s, Nugget, and Fleming. However, the main location of Food 4 Less stores is on the West Coast.
Food 4 Less stores focus on providing high quality food at a low price rather than building a beautiful store. It is a warehouse type supermarket with a focus on efficiency. Shoppers can expect a similar shopping experience at most Food 4 Less stores, including product packaging. Many items are placed in large baskets so that shoppers can quickly grab items and move around the store.
Costco
Costco is a members-only warehouse that receives most of its revenue from retail sales and a small percentage from membership fees. There are more than 800 Costco offices worldwide, 572 of which are located in the US.
Costco has a general rule that no item can be more than 14% overpriced. Like other cheaper grocery stores, Costco keeps prices low with private labels like Kirkland while distributing products efficiently. As a result, they will not keep the product if the price of the product is too high. Efficiency in the store, such as using skylights to reduce energy costs, also plays an important role in reducing costs, given the sheer size of most Costco stores.
walmart
Walmart is the largest and most famous retailer on this list of grocery stores. Walmart is known for selling a wide range of items at the lowest prices. Walmart has over 10,000 stores in 24 countries. In addition, Walmart is the largest private employer in the world, employing 2.2 million people.
Walmart is known for its relentless pursuit of low prices. Unlike the stores already mentioned, Walmart does not have an excellent reputation for paying its employees well, although they are trying to change this image. As the world’s largest retailer, Walmart has tremendous power over its suppliers. Many suppliers are heavily dependent on Walmart’s distribution and will trade lower prices for higher volumes.
Trader Joe
Trader Joe is a subsidiary of Aldi and there is a long standing story between two companies. So you can think of Trader Joe’s as an upscale Aldi store. There are 530 Trader Joe’s stores in the United States, with approximately 180 stores located in California.
As with Aldi, you won’t find many branded items at Trader Joe’s. This is one of the ways Trader Joe’s keeps costs down. In addition, Trader Joe’s has no grocery sales and coupons, loyalty programs and memberships.
To keep costs down, Trader Joe’s buys directly from suppliers whenever possible, they buy items in bulk, products that don’t sell are quickly taken off the shelves to make room for other things, and they fill their shelves.
Walmart market next door
Walmart Neighborhood Market is, of course, owned by Walmart. Walmart market next door stores are small format Walmart stores, on average five times the size of a Walmart supermarket. They focus primarily on three core products: products, pharmacies and fuel. There are approximately 700 Walmart Neighborhood Market stores across the country.
As you can imagine, Walmart Neighborhood Market stores have low prices for many reasons, just like other Walmart stores. However, at the same time, Walmart Neighborhood Market stores tend to be more expensive than Walmart supermarkets, primarily due to their much smaller inventory and overall lower inventory.
Also, locations tend to have fewer competitors and higher operating costs, so Walmart can charge more. Despite higher prices, Walmart Neighborhood Market is still in the top 10 cheapest grocery stores.
Lidl
Lidl stores are another member of the Aldi family. Those are three of the 10 cheapest grocery stores, if you count. Lidl The stores have a strong international presence with around 12,000 outlets in 31 countries. Of the 12,000 locations, only 165 are in the US.
Lidl is closer to Trader Joe’s than Aldi. While all three stores adhere to the principle of “no frills and waste,” Lidl offers more inexpensive gourmet products. Lidl also offers more brands than Aldi. In addition, Lidl ensures a high quality and seamless shopping experience in grocery stores by being experienced product curators, having the same layout for all stores, collaborating with local farmers and suppliers, offering high quality private label products and reducing overhead by eliminating unnecessary costs.
Amazon Fresh
Amazon is the newest grocery store chain with the fewest stores. After years of focusing on the grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh stores began reopening in 2020. There are currently 40 outlets worldwide, 23 of which are in the US.
Amazon Fresh Stores are taking grocery store technology to a whole new level. Shoppers use dashboard carts, touch-screen shopping carts, a barcode scanner, cameras, and various sensors to automatically count items in and out of the cart. Tool carts enable cashier-free retailing where shoppers don’t have to wait in line at the checkout.
Conclusion of the cheapest grocery store
The cheapest grocery stores on this list show several trends. First, most of the stores on this list are focused on ruthlessly controlling their distribution channels, cutting out the middlemen. Many grocery chains are focusing more on private label brands, allowing them to offer high quality food without the high costs of traditional brand names.
If you try not break your budget for groceries, you can’t go wrong with any of the grocery stores on this list.
This post was originally posted on Hello sane.
