Every month we look at the in-store and online prices of the same basket of goods across four major retailers – Checkers, Pick n Pay, Spar and Woolworths.

Shopping list

Our grocery basket is made up of nine basic goods most people are likely to have in their homes and use every day. The list looks like this

  • 700g loaf of Albany Superior sliced white bread, or store brand
  • 2-litre sunflower oil, store brand
  • 2.5kg Iwisa maize meal
  • 2.5kg Selati white sugar
  • 2-litre milk, store brand
  • 2kg Tastic rice
  • 2.5kg Snowflake cake flour
  • 175g bar of Dettol herbal soap
  • 18-pack of two-ply Baby Soft toilet paper

When some brands aren’t available, alternatives will be used but our aim is to keep the products as consistent as possible every month.

Delivery costs

Checkers, Pick n Pay and Spar offer the cheapest same-day delivery price of R35, while Woolworths charges R60 for the fastest delivery on its website or R35 using its app. For more on that, click here. We did not add delivery charges when totalling our baskets.

July’s basket

Prices as of 24 July, 2022

Comparing online and in-store shopping

Prices as of 24 June, 2022

Notebook

This story was edited on 29 June 2023 to update editorial style. No material changes were made