jparsons

Why are Is countdown and new world in particular so much more expensive compared to pack n save when essentially they sell the same branded products??

Why doesnt everyone shops at pak n save for branded goods then?

It confuses me :/

Justcol

Think CD and NW are owned by the same company.

PnS quality isn't always as good. They are not as widespread,
The nearest to me is 20km away and I don't want to spend $5
in gas to save $3 at the check out

BEVS

You need to ask Foodstuffs this question as they own both PaknSave, New World and 4square.

I would rather suspect it is to appeal to a range of buyer. The snob value & ease of shop experience perhaps going to New World .

Not everyone can get to a PaknSave. My easiest supermarket for instance, is New World or Countdown altohugh I do try to make the effort to bulkk buy certain items in PnSave

Countdown is owned by Progressive who also own the FreshChoice supermarkets .

In any case, it is all price rigged.

jmh

I have all the major supermarkets nearby. The ONLY reason I go to PaknSave is that they have some specialist products that the others don't have. But I hate the place. It's too big - I tend to do several smaller shops rather than one big one and it takes too long to get around. Also, it's full of noisy people shouting at their kids and the car park is full of cowboys.

I like the local New World because the store is a good size, and the customers are better behaved. The customer service at the checkout is very friendly, they pack the shopping and provide bags. People in the carpark know how to give way.

I often forget to take bags to PaknSave and there are never any boxes left. No such thing as customer service. For me the small savings are not worth the negative experience.

Well, glad I got that off my chest!!

Persephone

I have easy access to all 3 and tend to use a mixture of P&S and Countdown depending on where else I'm going, what I want to buy and how I feel on the day. I often walk to my closest Countdown as it only takes 10mins. I rarely use New World, usually only if I really need something and I can't get it at any of the others.

Round here, P&S and Countdown work out similar in price. Some things are always cheaper at CD and some things always cheaper at P&S. Swings and roundabouts.

However Countdown is a much more pleasant shopping experience!

Pom_Chch

I do all of my grocery shopping online using Countdown - the $8 delivery fee is worth it to avoid all of the things JMH speaks of

Justcol

like everything else in NZ the prices are fixed and over inflated

BEVS

$8 bucks ! Bargain.

Make that an extortionate $15 delivery fee up here. I used online for the first time a few weeks ago when too feeble to drive due to flu.

Snap Shot

PakNSave is my supermarket of choice. It's very close to home and about 20metres from Countdown and 50metres from New World. There's another Countdown where I live, about 3km from home in the shopping centre.

The parking at PNS is underground and surface too. Nothing wrong with either. OK, there's the usual muppetry going on as it's a supermarket carpark but no worse than Britain.

PNS prices are better on the whole. There's nothing wrong with the customer service at the PNS where I shop. The checkout operators are civil too. The people watching at PNS is part of the entertainment package for me.

Countdown is where I go just to top up my shopping for what I can't get at PNS.

I don't like Countdown and would really resent having to do my weekly grocery shop there. The lights are far to bright and the piped music is to loud. The aisles are narrow too. I really don't need my shopping packed for me, either.

New World just makes me laugh ! I don't get the 'lady of the manor' mentality of the people who shop there. It's about as close as NZ gets to posh. Waitrose eat your heart out ! I only go there on a Saturday and Sunday to get newspapers and anything we've run out of at the weekend because it's in walking distance from home.

barnsleymat

They're all the same, the same over sugared astronomically priced stuff stacked n packed a bit differently.

It's a price fixing heaven.

Bo-Jangles

Many supermarkets here are owner operated and vary vastly to each other whilst purporting to be the same 'brand' or chain of shops. New World and Pak n Save are essentially the same company aiming at two different markets but there's no consistency and you can't count on same standards. i.e. No two New World appear to be the same, some of them are so dated and shabby and you can't rely on them being any better than Pak n Save and similarly not all Pak n Saves are crap holes. Let's face it you work with what you've got and some P&S wouldn't look out of place in a third world country and some New Worlds look like the old Co-ops of the 1970s and the produce looks like its been there that long too.


I am within striking distance of two or more of each New World, Pak n Save and Countdown depending on where I am and they are all remarkably different in terms of the people that frequent them and the range and quality of products that they stock.


I generally shop in P&S for the main weekly shop and take and will top up with a side trip to one of others during the week and the prices do vary remarkably. I simply could not afford to do a whole weeks shopping in New World. As an example last week P&S had aubergines for $2.49 each and they were $5.49 in New World


The parking lottery and idiot factor also varies depending on what other stores there are in the vicinity, if there's a takeaway joint and liquor store nearby you can generally count on high quotient of boy racers and bogan low lifes hanging about.

Genesis

It certainly is. It is a duopoly and a complete rip off. The commerce commission is utterly useless. If they had any balls they would pave the way for competion to enter the market. We are being ripped off for milk too..in a HUGE HUGE way.

BEVS

C'mon Snapshot. You mean to tell me you don't feel the urge for a little fancy footwork trolley dance in the aisles ?

As an aside. I once had a couple of cans of baked beans bounced off my head in New World. Person could not wait for me to finish reaching for something on a lower shelf so just reached right over me and boink.

Tom H

Shopping at supermarkets, tut tut. The only time i'll go and shop at a supermarket if I have to, is when they have the 40c off a litre on fuel. Usually I go to the Countdown at Rangiora because its empty, no one is there and you literally have the freedom of the supermarket. If I have the Airpoints card with me, then I'll go to New World. I'll never do Pak n Save because the aisles are as wide as a stick insect, the products you want are 10ft high 'and there's no way i'm climbing on the rails to get to them', and finally I cannot be bothered queueing for 30 minutes, only to wait a further hour for a space in the 3 metre length area to put your purchased shopping in the bag. Oh and they always have bleach overload where the delis are. By all means keep the area clean but not to the point where we're almost choking on the aroma. It's worse than Fresh Choice!

I tend to purchase all our groceries etc at local shops

I go to the local fruit and veg shop in Woodend for any fruit or veg. I also get our milk from there since they sell it also. All local as well, no foreign imports there. How fantastically amazing is that
Meat purchasing, I get from Peter Timbs as again like the fruit and veg shop is on the way home from work. So convenient and easy. You can get a kg of diced lamb at around $20 and the products there are far far far far better than the tacky disgusting foul cheap 9 dollars 99 a kilo rubbish from the Pants Butcher!
Fish I go to the Seafood Market in Rangiora - oh my goodness locally caught fish from the sea - New Zealand fish, it's like wow, amazing, best fish in the world by a continent mile!
A friend of ours provides us with plenty of eggs at $3 for a dozen. She has plenty of chickens and sells the eggs to us at that price. Locally made - oh wow, no touching of all the processed rubbish the supermarkets do

For anything like crisps, chocolate etc, we tend to purchase from either The Warehouse, the local dairy in Pegasus etc.

Doing it this way, I can promote to the world how amazingly fantastic the local produce here is, and then compare on how awful and sickly other countries' cuisines are

jmh

You make some good points there Tom. I buy my meat at a high quality butchers and fruit and veg (that I can't grow) at local outlets. I'm not a great fan of seafood, but I gather the local fishmongers is very good. Local is definitely the way to go on quality and often on price too if you compare like for like. And I like the idea of supporting local people in local businesses even if it costs a bit more.