I more so make my choices based on convenience - which is closest to where I am, open at that time. But also if I'm after something specific that one or the other has (woolies olive bread!!!!)

Both! What Gio said - if I need something specific that I know I can get at one or the other, I'll do what I need to do!

Woolies all the way!

Whatever closest to where I am..not a lot of difference except Wesfarmers (Coles) seem to have a better business model at this time. Woolies need to shake up their executives

Aldi and Coles for me. Woolies . I agree with Wuff. The people at the top of Woolies just never seem to get it right, and are always playing catchup while the other 2 stores are so good at reading the customer. Overall Aldi's have better prices, better quality, but a smaller range. I can live with that.

Interesting note here. 59 years ago Perth in W.A. had a much smaller population than now, but we had the choice of 7 supermarkets throughout the city, and 4 large department stores in the main street alone, as well as others in the close vicinity. The competition has now been reduced to the point where we don't have the luxury of much choice when we shop.

Woolworths for our family, although we do shop at Coles for certain items that Woolies don't stock, we drive to the local town to shop and we can choose and we park at Woolworths. Coles does have a bigger range though and when they run super specials they're very good, I find I spend more if I shop there though, not because of pricing but because of the options! I Ike the 'Macro' range in Woolworths and the bulk buy saving specials, the veggies are predictably fresher, the aisles wider, I'd like to see them broaden their ranges a little though, particularly in the cooking ingredient ranges, cos that's when I head to Coles!

We have a Coles, a Woolies and an Aldi all within walking distance. I shop mostly at the first two, sometimes at Aldi - and I prefer Coles over Woolies. Maybe it's just the local store, but Woolies veggies and fruit are often pretty tired, they don't restock their shelves often enough, and their deli area is a bit sad too compared with Coles. That said, I now buy most of my meat and fish at the local butchers and the fish shop, and a lot of my fruit and veggies from the weekly farmer's market.

Woolies is very expensive behind all that media stuff they put out. Bigger Coles stores have great range, but smaller ones make Aldi look good. Aldi is really just a variety store with groceries, and when they do get a directly comparable name brand line it is overpriced. IGA is just downright expensive. So where do I shop...all of them , starting with their super specials

I used to shop only at Woolworths for convenience, I got sick of buying rotten produce and started noticing the shelves changing over to their own brand. I now prefer to shop at Coles but only after I've been to Aldi first who have surprised me, I thought they only carried foreign brands but they have quite a lot of Australian produce also. My favourite store, and I go frequently, is my local IGA which has to be the best one I've ever been in, very lucky. Our IGA really carries the best produce and a great variety of local groceries, and they will order in for you if it's not on the shelf. For me it's more about locally grown, I'll pay more to support our own producers, which is getting harder and harder to find. Finally, let's not forget Costco, great if you need bulk and just fun! I'm very fortunate to live in Canberra and they are all within 10 minutes from home, I like to shop around.

I avoid ColesWorth where possible because of their ownership of poker machines (which destroy families). I do have to buy groceries from both occasionally as I live in a small town and have little choice here, but I drive a 40-minute round trip to shop at an independent providore in a nearby town when I have other errands there, about once a week. Yes, it costs more, but not much. Most of the fruit and veg are sourced locally. I loathe the concept of the supermarket home brand, whereby the duopoly introduce their own packaged brands, drive the competition out of business by offering lower proposes, then when there is no choice the prices go up. I also dislike the huge sums wasted on celebrity chefs promoting ColesWorth. The money paid to the likes of Jamie Oliver takes cash out of our pockets and those of Aussie farmers.

Definitely Aldi. I only buy a few things from Coles that I can't get from Aldi. You just have to put your blinkers on and avoid the temptation of the middle section special items

I most often shop at Woolies as there are 2 stores closest to where I live. I do like their range of products, but have to agree with earlier comment, that they remove items from shelves without warning & that item is invariably needed in our household & this becomes very frustrating! I have to travel too far to shop at Coles, but occasionally shop at a nearby IGA, which is proving worthwhile!

I chose woolies as in my town, I find it cleaner than our coles store.

It can get difficult if you want to be fast, in and out, which in my case is important, to use another store occasionally, as each store has their items in different places, even two woolies but in different towns etc...

I've tried aldi but I don't like the unfamiliar brands and don't want to perhaps waste money buying such brands and being dissapointed.

I have no issues using coles or woolies and I don't shop for bargains, I buy the bare essentials and cook all our meals from scratch, save the odd tin of baked beans for emergencies!!

I don't buy cheap bread but shop exclusively at bakers delight, as I love the taste of their breads.

Aldi is always my first choice though I do like some of Woolies breads. The few things I can't get at Aldi I go to Coles for though aim to do all my shopping in one quick hit per week. Aldis prices and quality is always good, their range is not as extensive as the other two but that alone saves the temptation to overbuy on a whim. I definitely don't like the way that Woolies and Coles promote multiple purchasing as a saving. I have been operating like this for a few years now and find it really works for me and perhaps more importantly has saved a lot of money - we also tend to cook our meals from scratch.

I used to be a COLES only shopper, as my perception of Woolies was they were more expensive. I have found the local smaller Coles, has a huge out of stock problem with all my staple items, so I am usually rationed to one item, when I would normally buy several. I have petitioned the manager, written emails, added comments to social media sites, and asked for things to improve to no avail. I now share my shopping with both Woolies and Coles, and buy online through Coles, which in itself has a level of frustration attached! There isnt an Aldi close by, but I have found they dont have a big range. It is frustrating that some items are only available at one or the other supermarket. I agree that Woolies just removes stock lines overnight! JAFFAS have disappeared from the shelves. Coles doesnt sell Anrotts Honey Jumbles! And don't get me started about the fresh bread debar le!

Parking and traffic is such a huge issue here, so I don't really have any option, it is Coles for me, but my last experience at a Woolworths store finished them for me anyway. I wanted some tubs of yoghurt but all the tubs on the shelf were past their use by date by weeks. Called the dairy manager and was told it was all he had and why would I want to eat such stupid stuff anyway.

I have to admit over the last few years Coles seem to have really got their act together, and customer satisfaction is extremely high on their agenda. If I can't find a product, staff just don't tell me the aisle number, they take me to it and ensure the product is on the shelf. Store management is always visible and willing to listen the complaints and problems.

I definitely don't like Coles agenda to replace branded products with home brands. They are taking away our freedom of choice and to me that is un-Australian. They are also putting Australian companies out of business costing people their jobs and incomes. Too much is about greed and not what is good for this country. They are also not factoring in customers with special dietary needs as far as added ingredients go, nor are their products always the healthiest. Salt content is one big issue - it really is a joke when a product labelled "low salt" has a higher salt content than another brand's normal one.

I hate cooking so it is no fun in either store. I do wish either one would improve their deli salad selections to something appealing other than last century's potato salad or coleslaw. Both are revolting. I actually prefer shopping at Costco but it is a big trip. We do it when we have lots of family coming because of so many more selections in every department especially meat. LOve the American style spareribs; it's a really big slab. The local two stores sometimes have a tiny package of ribs that wouldn't feed one person plus their prices are exorbitant in comparison.

@colinc55,

Have to agree with youy about costco.

As I mentioned ealier, I cook from scratch so I don't buy much in the way of prepared products but costco is an amazing place for variety.

When I did a big shop there $1000 and purchased bulk of only the products I would normally buy in woolies but in smaller packaging, even taking into account the fuel for the 300km round trip, after comparing the price per litre or kg, I actually saved over $300.

I would love to go back and do it again!!

Colin - Coles are lifting their salad choices, their beetroot salad is very nice.

Definitely a Costco would be a bonus, but I'm not holding my breath. My joey in LA has 4 within a reasonable drive - not fair!!

Tania Waterman your comment sums it up completely and perfectly!

I shop at IGA supermarkets for my main items, and butchers and farmers markets where I can.
I am a single mum on minimum wage but I am not going to buy cheap imported crap from massive conglomerates who underpay staff and threaten and bully Australian suppliers.

If we won't pay an extra few cents per item for Aussie grown produce, when these suppliers go out of business our only choice could be imported goods picked and packed by slave labour. And with god knows what kind of quality control. There's a reason why the Chinese are exporting as much of our produce as they can get!!

Buy Aussie made for an extra few dollars per week and enjoy the best quality produce.

Because you're worth it ;)