Dollar General Beats Walmart in Kantar Retail’s OPP Survey

For the second straight year, Dollar General has come out on top in Kantar Retail’s opening price point (OPP) survey, edging out Walmart Supercenter by a mere 12 cents. The survey, now in its third year, determines how select retailers meet the grocery and consumable needs of shoppers in search of the lowest shelf prices.

According to Wilton, Conn.-based Kantar Retail, this year’s results represent a considerable narrowing of the gap from last year, when Dollar General’s basket of OPP items was 18 percent cheaper than Walmart’s. The edible grocery and HBC sub-baskets drove Dollar General’s basket lead over Walmart. And while Walmart’s basket came in a close second overall, it recorded the least expensive nonedible sub-basket by a large margin.

In contrast, Target’s total OPP basket was the most expensive, 48 percent more than Dollar General’s basket and 12 percent higher than the next highest-priced competitor, ALDI. In ascending order according to basket price, the retailers noted in the survey were Dollar General, Walmart Supercenter, Family Dollar, Stop & Shop, ALDI and Target.

“Retailers’ use of temporary price cuts did not affect the overall outcome of our survey,” noted Leon Nicholas, Kantar Retail SVP and a contributor to the study. “For the most part, all the retailers in this study achieved their OPP positions through everyday pricing. Private labels, however, had a more significant impact than in previous iterations of this study, as the retailer with the least expensive sub-basket achieved that standing primarily through private labels in each case.”

Added Nicholas: “It’s clear that the low-income shopper has an array of credible options when it comes to selecting outlets that meet her basket requirements. As more retailers try to engage with this shopper, it seems likely that the portfolio of options will grow along with the subsequent competition between retailers. Retailers who are able to provide both actual and perceived price leadership, in part through opening price points, will win wallet share with this large shopper segment."

In the 2013 study, Kantar Retail chose 21 categories across the edible grocery, nonedible grocery and HBC segments. In a change from 2012, Walgreens was omitted from the study because of a lack of opening price point competitiveness in previous years; all other retailers from last year were included. All data was amassed in the southern New Hampshire/northern Massachusetts area in October 2013. For each retailer, Kantar Retail assessed the lowest price point available to the shopper in that category, excluding trial sizes.