A new grocery store may lower the cost of some items, but its opening alone is no reason to expect a smaller food bill. Set a realistic budget, compare the same household basket at both stores, include travel or delivery costs, and repeat the check over several normal shopping trips before changing your routine.
Set a budget before comparing stores
Start with what your household can reasonably spend each week or month. Use your recent grocery spending and current circumstances to choose a cap; there is no universal budget amount that works for every household.
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Make a list from meals you plan to prepare and items you already use. Include quantities and acceptable alternatives across staples, produce, proteins, and household essentials. This gives you a stable basket to compare and helps prevent opening promotions from adding products you did not intend to buy.
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For each item, compare products of similar quality and check package size as well as the shelf price. When quantities differ, use the unit price—the cost per a standard amount of weight, volume, or count—rather than assuming the larger or lower-sticker-price package is the better deal. If one store lists a price per pound and another per ounce, convert them to the same unit.
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Unit-price labels can be presented differently across stores and jurisdictions, so check the measurement carefully. NIST’s unit-pricing guidance explains how unit pricing supports comparisons across package sizes. A 2025 NIST guide attributes the finding that 74% of shoppers use unit pricing when it is available to FMI’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2023; that industry-reported survey figure is not proof that unit-price comparisons reduce every household’s total spending.
Record whether a price depends on a loyalty membership, store app, coupon, or other condition. Compare an opening deal with a comparable regular or competing price, and mark promotions as temporary rather than treating them as the new store’s normal price.
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Count the cost of the whole shopping trip
A cheaper shelf basket is not necessarily the cheaper option overall. Add any delivery charge and estimate the transport cost for the trip. If visiting the new store means making an extra trip, include that cost; if it replaces a trip you already make or fits into another errand, judge it on that basis. Also account for the time and convenience involved.
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Compare acceptable substitutions and package usability, not just price. A low unit price can be poor value if the food spoils before you use it or the package is larger than your household needs. In qualitative consumer research, the UK Competition and Markets Authority found that shoppers were less likely to use unit prices for fresh food where buying in bulk could raise concerns about waste. The CMA describes those findings as indicative, not representative of all shoppers.
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Track several ordinary trips
- Choose the basket and cap. Write down the items and quantities you expect to buy, along with the budget you set from your household’s own spending.
- Price it at both stores. Record comparable product prices, unit prices, substitutions, and any member- or app-only conditions.
- Add trip costs. Include delivery or estimated transport costs, and note whether the new store creates an additional trip.
- Keep a simple record. For each trip, note the date, basket total, specials used, travel or delivery cost, and unplanned additions. A written list or phone calculator is enough; Alberta Health Services recommends adding spending as items go into the cart in its food budgeting guidance.
- Compare like with like over several weeks. Look at normal trips rather than relying on one discounted shop. Keep the switch only if the actual totals and convenience work for your household.
Check local unit-price rules and tools
Unit-price display rules vary by location. In the United States, NIST’s 2025 guide says there is no federal unit-pricing mandate and reports requirements in 16 states and three territories. In Canada, the federal consumer page said unit pricing was not generally mandatory outside Quebec in its March 2024 update. These are separate jurisdiction-specific examples, not a single rule that applies everywhere.
Singapore’s regulator announced that an expanded unit-pricing pilot begins on 1 October 2026 at NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Prime Supermarket, Don Don Donki, and RedMart; Cold Storage and Giant are scheduled to begin on 1 November 2026. The regulator also said the Price Kaki app can compare unit prices for more than 13,900 daily essentials. These details are specific to Singapore and may change. Check the relevant retailer or local consumer authority for current display conventions where you shop.
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