This week's half price deals, in numbers

Everything below is calculated from the 2,753 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: 1,244 deals · Woolworths: 1,509 deals. Woolworths is running 265 more half price lines this week (18% 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 $24,388.40. 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 928 50% $11.95
Other Groceries 375 51% $8.43
Personal Care 358 50% $9.56
Beverages 283 51% $5.55
Cleaning & Household 162 50% $9.67
Dairy, Eggs & Fridge 137 50% $4.47
Pantry 88 50% $6.40
Biscuits & Snacks 75 50% $3.42
Pet 62 50% $7.15
Confectionery 59 50% $6.56
Kitchen & Storage 48 50% $7.08
Meat & Seafood 40 51% $3.57
Breakfast & Cereals 34 50% $3.41
Fruit & Vegetables 27 50% $5.37
Baby 25 50% $9.57
Frozen 24 50% $5.62
Bakery 18 50% $3.10

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. Other Groceries

    Average 51% off, worth about $8.43 per item across 375 deals.

  2. Beverages

    Average 51% off, worth about $5.55 per item across 283 deals.

  3. Meat & Seafood

    Average 51% off, worth about $3.57 per item across 40 deals.

  4. Health & Beauty

    Average 50% off, worth about $11.95 per item across 928 deals.

  5. Personal Care

    Average 50% off, worth about $9.56 per item across 358 deals.

  6. Cleaning & Household

    Average 50% off, worth about $9.67 per item across 162 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 $2 209
$2 – $5 704
$5 – $10 824
$10 – $20 863
$20 – $50 144
Over $50 9

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.