gzt:

The problem is that big box retailers drive out the small operators on price. Look at our building hardware market, where 20 years ago we had a lot of small hardware shops in the townss, now you would be lucky to find any. The big ones started out cheap, and now they are very pricey .

mattwnz:

 

That is why we are supposed to have systems to look at this sort of thing, and  to make sure that that when companies merge,  it doesn't decrease competition and result in higher prices for consumers. The Aussie government has previously brought in laws to help with their supermarkets including over land banking, and I don't know why NZs government didn't do the same.

 

Maybe 25 million vs 5 million? Not disagreeing, but do we need to look at Bunnings and Mitre 10? Oderings for garden stuff? Dairies? Bike shops? Compost dealers?

Yes im getting out there a bit, but while I agree with hammering profiteers, that can apply to any industry. Remember the much loved Air New Zealand was caught price fixing with air cargo? Most businesses cannot be labelled. Profit, Assets, Infrastructure Investment. If I had a massive factory making one widget Product Number thats wildly different to another company making a wide variety of goods. Its not an easy regulatory fix

With NZs smaller population, it is why we need a strong competition watchdog

mattwnz:

 

With NZs smaller population, it is why we need a strong competition watchdog

 

I'd settle for one that's not blatantly biased, attacking supermarkets with very flimsy evidence, yet giving a pass to Chorus, which has an actual monopoly,  just because their shareholders cried a bit.

Heck they should just go find anything owned by Infratil and investigate that, a company that specialises in finding monopolies and extracting maximum value.

gzt: 
Supercheap were good when they first started. Pricing seems to parallel Repco now for many items.

Discount Chemist is a standout. Substantially lower pricing on non-subsidised medications. Way cheaper for the usual pharmacy stuff. Plus, almost overnight all the other pharmacies removed the $5 prescription surcharge.

Who's Discount Chemist? I can't find anything on Google - are you referring to Chemist Warehouse?

Theres two, Chemist Warehouse (aussie owned) and Bargain Chemist (NZ owned), both are very competitively priced. Given the choice, I'd go with the NZ owned one where possible

johno1234:

Quick peek at PaknSave v Coles

PaknSave butter 500g is NZ$6.79 for the house brand. Quick look at Coles in AU (not even sure if that's the low cost supermarket there?) shows house brand Coles butter AU$6.00.

Then consider the exchange rate, and no GST on food in AU.

NZ$5.90 + GST here vs NZ$6.60 + no GST there

Our butter is cheaper until you add GST. Despite Australia's economy of scale. And our inflation is double Australia's.

 

 

 

Speedy885:

 

 Forgetting the grandaddy of the building supply, Fletchers/Placemakers

I was including them in: Not really retail focussed.  They are mainly a trade supplier.  As evidence of that, my local Placemakers only has about 6 carparks, vs Mitre10 and Bunnings which each have hundreds.

Kiwifruta:

johno1234:

 

Quick peek at PaknSave v Coles

 

 

 

PaknSave butter 500g is NZ$6.79 for the house brand. Quick look at Coles in AU (not even sure if that's the low cost supermarket there?) shows house brand Coles butter AU$6.00.

 

 

 

Then consider the exchange rate, and no GST on food in AU.

 

 

 

NZ$5.90 + GST here vs NZ$6.60 + no GST there

 

 

 

Our butter is cheaper until you add GST. Despite Australia's economy of scale. And our inflation is double Australia's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I live in QLD. At Woolworths (parent coy of Countdown) the 500g block of low cost butter is AUD5.00, and it’s NZ butter.

Yes, Coles is lower priced supermarket, in general.

Not all products are cheaper here though. Broccoli, meat, fish etc are better quality and/or cheaper in NZ.

Milk is definitely cheaper here. The cheapest milk, is around AUD3.70 for 3 litres.

Pak N Save is NZs budget supermarket, and not all towns have one. If you don't live in one of the main centres, then you may only have a few options for supermarkets, unless you want to travel a large distance, which then becomes uneconomic. The cheapest brand of 500gm butter at my NW store, which is the only supermarket in my town, is $7 and is a home brand one. If I drive to the next town to a PE supermarket brand , the butter is $7.10, but that is discounted from $8.90! Instead of comparing with Pacnsave, which is just a single store,  I would instead compare the price to a normal quality store such as Countdown, where the regular price of Tararua butter 500gm is $8.30, https://www.countdown.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=281747&name=tararua-butter  . That is more than double the warehouses price of the identical butter at $4. So that makes no sense why it would be over double the price. Before the price drop on butter at THW, they were selling Tararua  butter for $5 and they had heaps of stock, and guessing they would still be making a margin on it . Since they dropped it to $4 , it sells out quickly which is a problem. Same with2L milk @ $3.

Milk in my town for the cheapest brand in a 2L bottle jumped in price by 90 cents. It is now $4.79. I asked the manager why it had gone up, as it had a price promise on it and a promotion tag to say that it was $3.89 until the 1/1/2023. She said that was an error on the price tag, and that prices of everything were rising, such as petrol, and she had just had a big increase in her rates. 

Your comparison from shopping in a small town vs a Pak N Save is probably not dissimilar to the comparison between NZ and Aus, economies of scale and cost structure. Small towns simply don't have the ability to maintain city pricing, labour costs (usually one of the highest costs of any business) aren't any less just because you are in a small town. Rent / lease / building costs might be cheaper depending on square footage etc. 

I re-did my comparison shop again last night, New World (Lincoln) vs Pak n Save (Hornby), matching item for item. With a $230 shop this week, difference was about $7 slightly in favour of Pak N Save, certainly not the night/day price difference that I would have thought. I'll try NW vs Countdown next time to see how it goes with "competing chains", but given NW has the market reputation as being one of the most expensive supermarkets, I have found it interesting that facts don't live up to the perception.

The thing is that some things, such as milk and some other essentials, used to be cheaper to buy locally in the small town, than going to the city that has all of the different brands of supermarket. Now it is about $1 more and other things have also increased, making them more expensive. I think with CD prices, seem to be about the same throughout NZ even in the closes town near me that has both CD and PNS, the CD prices seem uniform.

I went in to my local supermarket tonight, and they had a stack of Mainland 1kg tasty cheese for $22.50 . The other types were half the price and all sold out, but doesn't look like too many people were willing to pay that sort of crazy price.  Not sure if that is the most expensive price for cheese I have seen. You expect to pay a bit more for Tasty, but I would never consider paying that sort of price. 

mattwnz:

I went in to my local supermarket tonight, and they had a stack of Mainland 1kg tasty cheese for $22.50 . The other types were half the price and all sold out, but doesn't look like too many people were willing to pay that sort of crazy price.  Not sure if that is the most expensive price for cheese I have seen. You expect to pay a bit more for Tasty, but I would never consider paying that sort of price.