What is CheckNSave.com?

CheckNSave.com started as an online grocery prices comparison website in 2004, using manually entered pricing from supermarket flyers and newspaper advertisements. A simple algorhythm was created to calculate what is now referred to as the Product Value Index, or PVI, based on the products price history, and a comparison with similar products in the same grocery department.

CheckNSave was concieved by Abel Haslett in 2003 while working for a company that provided high quality product images to the design industry for use in advertising brochures and catalogues. During this time he aquired knowledge of the grocery industry and the types of pricing cycles and discounted specials that are applied at various times. Having come from a student background studying to be a graphic designer, Abel knew what it was like to survive on very little income to purchase food for the week.

Realising that there was an opportunity to help others save money by applying certain common sense rules aquired during this time, he set about creating an online site to capture pricing information to make it simple for others to see exactly when to purchase certain products in the discounting cycle.

Why compare grocery prices?

It's something that most penny pinchers do without even thinking in the grocery store - find the price of a particular grocery product and brand, and compare it in our memory with the last known price to see if it is a good deal. This is often displayed in the form of a savings amount on the price ticket, so this is nothing new. But we also devised a way of comparing the product with like products, perhaps of a different brand to establish the best price for that type of product within that department.

Once the PVI for the product is established for that week, we can then track the products progress over time and display the results visually so that you, the estute shopper, can benefit from the maximum amount of savings when purchasing a product at it's lowest price point.

Which stores/supermarkets do we track?

As CheckNSave started out as a supermarket price comparison website, the products we track currently are mainly grocery products. As we continue to develop our product offering we have begun to move into music CDs, DVDs, electrical applicances and even real estate!

Currently the two main supermarkets we track prices for are Coles Online and Woolworths (Homeshop). The reason for these two is that between them they command the majority share of the Australasian grocery market.

View Coles Prices here.
View Woolworths Prices here.

How much do grocery prices fluctuate?

It all depends on the type of product you are looking to buy. DVDs for example start out at around $30 and then drop in price gradually as the movie becomes less popular. Produce is seasonal, so it depends on the season. It has also been known for fresh fruit and vegetables to vary wildly week from week due to supply and demand pressures. Take bananas in Australia in 2007 for example. Due to tropical storms in Queensland, bananas rocketed to $15/kg within a very short span of time.

For products with a reasonable shelf life it is necessary to track the price history to see when the price is at or near it's lowest before purchasing to reap the maximum benefit in savings.

How can you benefit?

Obviously, you can benefit buy saving money on your grocery shopping! The real benefit is in how much you can save. By checking the prices and comparing between stores before you purchase, you can potentially save hundreds on your grocery bill each month.

Does it cost anything to join?

No. CheckNSave.com is absolutely free to join. It always has been. Our website is paid for by the placement of relevant advertising on each page, keeping the cost to our customers free. You can create a free account here.

Why should I sign up?

As mentioned above, it's free - and let's face it, not much is these days. The reason you should sign up is so you can save a shopping list of commonly purchased items to your 'shopping cart' and track how the total changes week by week as you login.

 

Some Sample Grocery Departments