“We have already started integrating Aldi products onto the platform. This will be the first time in history that Aldi has been compared head to head to the other big two vendors,” Mussa Khan, co-founder of GroceryGetter, told FoodNavigator-Asia.
GroceryGetter was launched in February and already there are close to 10,000 users over the phone and web apps, with a few thousand coming on board in each of the past two months. A new version of the phone app is about to be released very soon.
“We are expanding fast. In the last 30 days alone, our user base has grown 30% and we are the leading comparison app in Australia for groceries,” said Khan.
Shortly after the launch, GroceryGetter began offering grocery delivery services through its phone app. Khan said that while the web app doesn't have the delivery option as yet, it “is coming in the next few days”.
According to him, GroceryGetter is the only app in Australia both compares prices and delivers.
GroceryGetter was founded by Khan and Shawnjit Singh. In 2015, Singh noticed there were a lot of aggregation services available in the Australian marketplace such as for finding the best credit card deal, best interest rates, cheapest electricity provider, cheapest PC parts across vendors, and so on, and wondered what hadn’t yet been done that is commonly needed.
“No one was comparing grocery prices, which is crazy, since every single consumer buys it every week and it's over a $100b market in Australia,” said Khan.
What GroceryGetter can do
Khan said GroceryGetter has the top 100 deals for the week that displays the highest discounts between Coles and Woolworths. He explained that it doesn't distinguish if the comparison of the products is based on a special offer or not, but simply finds the biggest savings available.
For instance, a top hit on the deals for the week, which is not on special offer at either of the vendors, is cayenne chillies, which was found to cost AU$3 at Woolworths and AU$1.10 at Coles. The app had found a 63% discount.
Another example is Vittoria coffee which is sold at Coles for AU$36.70 and AU$18.25 at Woolworths. In one item of purchase alone, the app-using shopper would have saved more than AU$18.
GroceryGetter is expected to be even more useful in identifying cost-savings once Aldi’s products are fully integrated into the system as well.
The top two products searched on GroceryGetter are milk and bread. Others in the top 10 include Weet-bix, chicken, Coca-Cola, Chobani yoghurt, cheese and rice.
The top five products ordered on the app are Woolies’ Ricotta Cheese, Huggies wipes fragrance free (80-pack), Original Vita - Wheat, Kelloggs’ Coco Pops and Diet Coke (24-pack).
Expansion plans
While there is a delivery charge of AU$9.99, Khan said it was still cheaper than relying on a single retailer.
GroceryGetter currently delivers to “all areas of Sydney” and is looking to expand to Canberra soon and Melbourne next. Brisbane is expected as well, some time next year.
While GroceryGetter won’t be looking at international expansion until they “conquer Australia”, Khan said they did aim to expand overseas eventually.
“We have a keen eye for New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore,” said Khan.
“I don't think we will look internationally for at least another 24 months until we have a lot of capital behind us and a very tried, tested and refined product to drop into other markets.”
In the next phase, the team will be launching GroceryGetter for business.