The popularity of Checkers and Pick ‘n Pay has increased among online shoppers in many South African urban areas, where the two supermarkets offer well-established grocery delivery services Sixty60 and ASAP, respectively. One of the questions people often ask is whether Checkers is cheaper than Pick ‘n Pay. Based on our research, the answer to that question is yes, although there are exceptions.

Checkers has consistently beaten Pick ‘n Pay in Business Tech’s annual Price War survey since 2016. We have also been monitoring food prices at these supermarkets for the past few weeks to verify this. Due to Pick ‘n Pay’s relatively cheap No Name products, we assumed that it was the cheaper supermarket but we were wrong. When there are no special promotions, private label products are generally cheaper at Checkers, as can be seen in the table below, which compares today’s prices of some of the most commonly purchased products at these two supermarkets, as obtained from Sixty60 and ASAP. Only brands that are available at both supermarkets (with their normal, non-promotional prices) are shown.

It is clear from the table which supermarket is cheaper than the other. All the product listed above are either the same price at both supermarkets, or cheaper at Checkers except Albany brown bread, which is 20 cents cheaper at Pick ‘n Pay.

Nonetheless, prices fluctuate all the time. It is therefore not recommended to base all your future grocery shopping decisions on our findings. In these tough economic times, it is always a good idea to check which supermarket has better specials before going shopping.