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Woolworths, Coles, Aldi: Australia's best supermarket has been revealed

The biggest names have been put to the test and one has won the top spot for the seventh year in a row.

Stewart Perrie
·Senior Journalist
Updated ·3-min read
Supermarket trolley with Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi logos
The biggest supermarkets were put to the test and one has come out on top for the seventh year in a row. (Source: Getty)

Aldi has been crowned Australia's best supermarket for the seventh time in a row. The low-cost retailer was hailed by Canstar Blue’s Supermarket Satisfaction Ratings as having the happiest customers compared to the likes of Woolworths, Coles, IGA and other brands.

A poll of more than 1,000 Yahoo Finance readers revealed an overwhelming majority (89 per cent) felt the two biggest supermarkets, Coles and Woolies, could have been doing more to help struggling Aussies in a cost-of-living crisis. So it's no surprise that Aldi, with its generally cheaper products, has remained in the top spot.

“Canstar Blue surveys consumers to rate brands in more than 300 product and service categories on their own customer satisfaction levels, and brands that top those ratings for more than a year or two are rare,” Canstar editor-in-chief Christine Seib said.

“That makes Aldi’s domination of the Most Satisfied Customers – Supermarkets award for seven consecutive years not only an unusually strong performance from any brand but also a testament to its consistent delivery of what Australian customers want from a supermarket.”

Canstar Blue noted that not only did Aldi beat the likes of Coles, Woolies, IGA and other retailers, but the brand maintained five-star satisfaction scores in five categories this year.

Last year, Aldi notched a perfect score for overall satisfaction, value for money, layout and presentation of store, freshness of produce, quality of supermarket-branded products, and deals and specials available.

Seib said keeping a five-star record in five categories when customers' budgets were being squeezed by other rising costs was incredible.

“In fact, Canstar Blue’s survey found that Aldi’s customers reported a lower weekly grocery bill than the customers of all other major supermarket chains," she said.

Ella Victoria wanted to switch to another supermarket after realising how much she was spending on everyday items at Woolworths.

She did a price comparison with Aldi and couldn't believe that she could be saving up to $1,000 a year if she only shopped there.

“Overall, I saved about $10 to $20 when shopping at Aldi. Honestly, I thought it would be even more savings than that,” she said.

Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Gary Mortimer said shoppers can save at Aldi, but it's not always entirely fair to compare.

"Yes, you can save if you shop purely at Aldi, but there is a cost for that saving, and that cost is that you forgo range and choice," he told Yahoo Finance.

"If you want to buy Cadbury Chocolate and some of the bigger brands that you normally buy at a supermarket, you’re not going to get that at Aldi, but you will get it at Coles, Woolworths or IGA."

Mortimer told Yahoo Finance that Aldi saves a ton of money by not stocking the well-recognised brands that Aussies know and love.

But that's not the only way they cut costs compared to their Aussie rivals.

The limited range, smaller store footprint, register processes, and shelf-ready packaging also contribute to supermarket savings, which ultimately benefit customers.

"We tend to think that Aldi has around 600 stores in Australia - it doesn't - it has 10,000 stores globally. So when Aldi buys tin tuna, it’s not buying for 600 stores, it’s buying for 10,000 stores globally," he explained.

"Having less range means that they are buying a lot of one or two items rather than smaller volumes of lots of items."

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