A wide choice of stores and goods, especially in large cities, reflect the diversity of modern society. Some stores are unashamedly aimed at the wealthy, others are more tailored for middle and lower income groups. The steady, inexorable rise in food prices, at the same time as jobs and incomes have become less secure, has prompted a widespread need to buy groceries as cheaply as possible. Whatever income group one fits into, there are options to consider buying groceries for less money.
There was a time comparing grocery store prices meant a lot of footwork with a notebook and pencil. Today, busy schedules, long working hours, commuting times and sheer exhaustion, leaves people far too tired to travel for miles and miles, searching for the cheapest grocery prices. Due to the ready availability of information on the internet, there is no need to march around town writing lists of shops, groceries and prices.
The best way to compare prices is looking on the internet. On the internet, there are systems that update information immediately there is a change. These indicate real-time facts and figures. Indexes and exchange-rates, are constantly changing throughout a 24 hour period and it is important to traders that up-to-the-minute prices are available.
Similar systems showing prices of groceries at various supermarkets, have to process vast amounts of information from numerous sources. How up-to-the-minute the quoted prices are, depends on the proper working of the system. The information on a website comparing supermarket prices, are generally those charged at larger branches of the supermarkets. The price of goods at the smaller branches can vary quite a bit, and are often a little more expensive. Here, things like bananas are sold individually rather than by weight.
There is quite lot of media advertising of price comparison websites, but the main ones do not deal with supermarket grocery prices. Insurance, Travel, Motoring and Utility deals are well catered for. Books, Health & Beauty products, Fashion, Household Products etc. are also well covered. http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ is the main UK site comparing grocery prices. They compare prices at Tescos, Asda, Sainsburys and Ocado.
Martin Lewis is a big name in money-saving ideas. He reckons that by being smart at the shops, most people could save up to 15 percent on their food bills over a year. If you are prepared to drop one brand level on everything you buy, the average saving is more likely to be 33 percent. These astonishing numbers are proof that savings can be made if one is prepared to compare grocery prices and shop where the cheaper prices are to be found.