This week's half price deals, in numbers

Everything below is calculated from the 2,980 half price products currently listed on this site, and it changes each time the specials refresh. It is a snapshot of what the two chains are discounting right now, not a historical average.

Store split

Coles: 1,171 deals · Woolworths: 1,809 deals. Woolworths is running 638 more half price lines this week (35% more than the other). That gap moves around week to week and is not a reliable guide to which chain is cheaper overall — a larger number of promoted lines can just as easily mean more small discounts on cheap items.

Added together, the difference between the promotional prices and the stated regular prices across the whole list comes to $25,369.09. That is a theoretical figure — nobody buys all of it — but it gives a sense of the scale of the weekly promotional program at the two chains.

Biggest dollar savings right now

Percentages flatter cheap products. These are the twelve deals with the largest saving in actual dollars — the ones where acting on the discount makes a visible difference to a receipt.

Categories by volume

Which parts of the shop the supermarkets are promoting hardest this week, by number of discounted lines. Categories with fewer than ten deals are omitted.

Category Deals Avg discount Avg saving
Health & Beauty 1,029 50% $11.82
Personal Care 387 50% $8.74
Beverages 385 51% $5.29
Other Groceries 249 50% $7.82
Cleaning & Household 195 50% $9.87
Dairy, Eggs & Fridge 152 50% $4.12
Pantry 93 50% $8.44
Biscuits & Snacks 89 50% $4.31
Kitchen & Storage 87 50% $5.90
Breakfast & Cereals 55 50% $3.51
Confectionery 50 51% $5.54
Pet 47 50% $6.12
Fruit & Vegetables 44 50% $6.73
Bakery 32 50% $2.68
Meat & Seafood 30 50% $2.81
Frozen 22 50% $5.95
Electronics & Batteries 13 50% $9.15
Baby 10 50% $4.08

Where the deepest discounts are

The same categories, ranked by average discount rather than volume. Categories with a high average reduction tend to be the ones with high recommended retail prices — there is more headroom to discount a $30 serum than a $2 tin.

  1. Beverages

    Average 51% off, worth about $5.29 per item across 385 deals.

  2. Confectionery

    Average 51% off, worth about $5.54 per item across 50 deals.

  3. Health & Beauty

    Average 50% off, worth about $11.82 per item across 1,029 deals.

  4. Personal Care

    Average 50% off, worth about $8.74 per item across 387 deals.

  5. Other Groceries

    Average 50% off, worth about $7.82 per item across 249 deals.

  6. Cleaning & Household

    Average 50% off, worth about $9.87 per item across 195 deals.

Price bands

What the discounted products actually cost after the reduction. Most half price specials sit in the low single digits, which is worth remembering before making a trip for one.

Under $2 217
$2 – $5 866
$5 – $10 859
$10 – $20 873
$20 – $50 160
Over $50 5

How to read these numbers

Two things are worth keeping in mind. First, the average discount sits close to 50% by definition — this site only lists half price promotions, so the figure mostly reflects rounding and the occasional deal that is slightly above or below the halfway mark.

Second, average saving per item is the more useful column in the tables above. It tells you where the money actually is. A category averaging 50% off on $2 items is generating one dollar a time; a category averaging 50% off on $25 items is generating twelve. That is the difference between a deal worth noting and a deal worth planning around, and it is the reasoning behind what is worth stockpiling.

These figures are derived from the retailers' own published regular and promotional prices. Their accuracy depends on the accuracy of that source data — see our disclaimer.