I went price shopping lately, and compared Aldi with Walmart. Here are the results. These prices reflect the cheapest option and don't attempt to compare brand-for-brand, just equivalent items. The prices were current as of last week in Plainfield, Illinois. Note that this is an upscale area- Walmart probably has higher prices here than they would in another area, while Aldi's cost-cutting techniques probably serve them well, allowing them to keep their prices comparable to other Aldis elsewhere.
Item
|
Aldi
|
Walmart
|
Difference
|
Apples (Granny smith, 3lb)
|
$3.19
|
$4.47
|
40.1%
|
Milk (Whole, 1 gal)
|
$1.80
|
$1.78
|
1.1%
|
Eggs (large, dozen)
|
$1.28
|
$1.48
|
15.6%
|
Canola oil (48 fl oz)
|
$2.69
|
$2.68
|
0.4%
|
Bread (12 grain, loaf)
|
$1.69
|
$2.38
|
40.8%
|
Mayonnaise (Kraft Olive oil, 22 fl oz)
|
$2.89
|
$3.24
|
12.1%
|
Turkey deli meat, sliced, packaged (1 lb)
|
$3.29
|
$2.98
|
9.4%
|
Mangoes (each)
|
59 ¢
|
98 ¢
|
66.1%
|
Sausage links, Italian, packaged (per ounce)
|
14.7 ¢
|
15.7 ¢
|
6.8%
|
Sliced cheese, packaged, cheapest (per ounce)
|
24.9 ¢
|
27.7 ¢
|
11.2%
|
Baby swiss cheese wedges, foil wrapped (per ounce)
|
32.3 ¢
|
46.3 ¢
|
43.3%
|
Cooking spray oil, canola
|
$1.39
|
$1.50
|
7.9%
|
Green peppers, each (Sold by threes at Aldi)
|
50 ¢
|
74 ¢
|
48.0%
|
Red, orange, and yellow peppers, package with one each
|
$2.99
|
$3.98
|
33.1%
|
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (per lb)
|
$1.99
|
$2.19
|
10.1%
|
Onions, yellow (3lb bag)
|
$1.49
|
$1.96
|
31.5%
|
Flour tortillas, 6” (dozen)
|
89 ¢
|
98 ¢
|
10.1%
|
Peanut butter, chunky (per ounce)
|
11.3 ¢
|
13.7 ¢
|
21.2%
|
Olive oil (virgin)
|
17.7 ¢
|
16.0 ¢
|
9.6%
|
Tall kitchen bags (per bag)
|
6.3 ¢
|
13.5 ¢
|
114.3%
|
Black beans, 15 oz can
|
59 ¢
|
68 ¢
|
15.3%
|
Parmesan cheese, grated (per ounce)
|
29.9 ¢
|
33 ¢
|
10.4%
|
Paper towels, decent ones, but not name brand (per roll)
|
$1.35
|
$1.83
|
35.6%
|
Avocados, Hass
|
49 ¢
|
$1.49
|
204.1%
|
Some notes: Some items were on sale at either place. I don't remember them all, but some are the milk and canola oil at Walmart (competing with Aldi, I am sure), avocados both places (!), mangoes and onions at Aldi.
I shop at Aldi now. The reason is obvious- it so much cheaper! It's an almost meaningless statistic, but the cost-normalized savings* at Aldi is about 25.6%. The selection is not there for all the stuff I want, but I can go to Aldi for 80% of my trips. I don't even want to know what this chart would look like vs. Meijer- the one here is amazingly expensive!
*I got this by multiplying the mean price of the item between the two stores with the percent savings at Aldi for each item, taking the mean of those, and dividing by the mean of the average price. Is this valid? I don't know. You should still shop at Aldi.
*I got this by multiplying the mean price of the item between the two stores with the percent savings at Aldi for each item, taking the mean of those, and dividing by the mean of the average price. Is this valid? I don't know. You should still shop at Aldi.
