When European retailer Aldi started opening stores up and down Britain in 2016, people who lived close to a new retailer location started noticing that the value of their homes went up by as much as £5,000. It was called the “Aldi Effect” by the local media and, soon enough, the vicinity of an Aldi store to a piece of property became a listing feature.
Aldi started putting up more stores all over the U.S. starting in 2011, with a total of 1,600 stores to date. And just like in the U.K., it would seem that there is yet another advantage to having an Aldi store in your neighborhood – lower prices for everyday groceries at your local Walmart store.
Walmart and their everyday low price (EDLP) approach has consistently driven a low price image across the U.S. With their limited assortment and private label focus, Aldi has also worked to deliver customer value through low prices. When both retailers are present in a market, they have demonstrated an ability to fight head-to-head for low-price leadership.
Engage3 collects and monitors grocery pricing in markets across the U.S., and identifies pricing patterns and market trends.
For this study, we created a basket of 50 grocery staples that were price checked at three Walmart locations within each of the four Texas markets studied – Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Dallas and Houston have 36 and 50 Aldi store locations, respectively, while Austin only has 1 store location and San Antonio has none. The competitive landscape in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston is much more robust, with not only Aldi in the mix, but Kroger and Safeway banners as well.
Our study revealed that in Austin where there is only 1 Aldi store location (north in Pflugerville), Walmart pricing for the basket of staples was 16.2% higher than in Dallas, and 17.6% higher than it was in Houston.
In San Antonio where Aldi has no store presence and where H-E-B and Walmart are the dominant grocery players, we found that the Walmart basket was between 21% and 22% higher than the exact basket in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, respectively.
While the average pricing differences in the four cities taken together were between 6% and 11%, some pricing disparity on items like peanut butter and mac and cheese were fairly significant. The chart below shows peanut butter at a Walmart store in Dallas-Fort Worth priced at $1.18, while the same jar was priced at $2.18 in Austin – a whopping 54% difference. Similarly, the mac and cheese, priced in the Dallas-Fort Worth stores at $0.34, was double the price at $0.68 each in Austin.
The same pattern can be seen in Houston, where there are currently 50 Aldi stores. The chart below shows peanut butter at a Walmart store in Houston priced at $1.78, while the same jar was priced at $2.58 in San Antonio, or 45% more. The same mac and cheese, priced in the San Antonio store at $0.68, is 100% more expensive than in Houston at $0.34.
The market basket data used in this analysis is objective and precise. But while the same 50 items were used across all markets, the correlation of Aldi’s effect on a market is still subjective. Based on Engage3’s observations of competitive pricing data across the U.S., we have determined consistent patterns of Aldi’s influence and effect on market pricing.
Pricing has always been like a chess game, where each retailer is reacting to their competitor’s moves, while trying to predict how their competitor will react to their maneuvers. But, unlike chess, this game is often played with 3 or more players, and aggressive moves can make it difficult to discern strategy from reactive tactics.
For more information on how to build a strategic competitor assessment and market price monitoring program, watch our competitive pricing video here, request our white paper on how to leverage AI and big data in competitive pricing here, or contact us at 530-231-5485.
