The eight things every shopper wants from a supermarket

ALISSA WARREN
News.com.au
My wage comes in. My wage goes out. As quickly as that.
If it’s not on childcare, it’s on groceries. That’s it.
So it’ll come as no surprise that the very mention of Woolworths vs. Coles vs. Aldi vs. David Jones made my ears prick. I have three kids under five so I’m always looking for a better shopping experience — quicker, easier, cheaper.
But this week has been all about graphs and charts — a comparison of “customer satisfaction” levels. A complex web of what’s working and what isn’t, of what should be working and when it stopped. But surely it’s not that hard to work out? Surely the science of supermarket shopping isn’t as difficult as these experts make us believe?
Because the real reasons are very straightforward.
1. Speed: If I can get in and out of a supermarket experience at a rapid pace, I’m there. I like to dive in and dive out and be satisfied that I’ve made a …

2. Bargain: Down-down or cheap-cheap. I don’t really mind how it happens — just give me the best price. The average box of Huggies nappies can cost around $33. If a parent can pick them up for $27, then I can almost guarantee, that parent will buy several. Each of my children wear nappies of some sort. I bought them two boxes each last week at the best price — a total of $162. That’s not including wipes or nappy bags. Or deodorant. Or shampoo. Or anything. Point is — if I can get a deal on the big items, I’m in.
3. Curtis Stone
4. Mum’s the word: Aldi. These days, mothers talk about Aldi in the same way some cooks talk about the Thermomix. They speak of it’s potential with evangelical excitement. The deals. The bargains. The brands. The almighty special offers on everything from ski gear to coffee machines. Aldi-shoppers insist non-Aldi-shoppers take a risk. Constantly.

5. Online, offline?: Get in line. This experience can be as sticky as the fizzy drink aisle on a Saturday afternoon or it can be as simple as finding bananas. Shoppers want a swift and cheap transaction. But it’s not always as simple as it seems. I was a keen online supermarket shopper — but I stopped because every second order, I’d receive someone else’s minced meat or the site would freeze due to too much traffic or I couldn’t find “Glad bags” because they were listed as something else. In the past few days, Woolworths reset their site, sending grocery-buyers into a spin. If the online experience can work seamlessly, surely, traffic would rise. Seriousy, imagine how many boxes of nappies I would buy. Wow.
6. Curtis Stone
7. A magazine: For free. Twenty free pages of tips, tricks, information and recipes is a glorious addition to my post-shop slump. And while I have no doubt that every page is laden with advertorials — I don’t care. When I get home from the neon lights of a supermarket (after spending my hard-earned cash on boring groceries), it’s a small reward to sit down and look at some pretty pictures in a little glossy magazine that I didn’t have to pay for. It feels free. That’s what matters.
8. Produce: If only I could feel as confident about buying pears and bananas as I do buying onions and potatoes. An unbruised banana, a medium ripe pear, perfectly red grapes, un-wilting herbs.
Like what you’d get at a market, right? A market … Hmm. But this is a bit bigger than a market. It’s super. A. Super. Market. And when you start to think of it like that, it’s really not very complicated at all.