Recently, we did a comparison of which major grocery chains were the most economical. Walmart came out on top, with the cheapest grocery bill!
With the growing popularity of Dollarama stores for groceries and food, we wanted to analyze the price difference between the two.
Dollarama is a dollar store-style retailer founded in Montreal in 1910. The company has over 1,525 stores in Canada, mostly in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Quebec.
Dollarama customers are mainly attracted by the store’s low prices and wide range of products. Every store is different. Items for the home, groceries, toys, kitchen tools, etc. change with the seasons and regions. It’s almost a surprise every time you visit!
Consumers can buy in-store or online. Recently, they began a partnership with the AIR MILES loyalty program.
For this research, we used a grocery basket with 42 products found at both retailers, comapring the same brands for each product. Prices were collected in person on September 23 and 24, 2023 at Walmart Supercentre and three Dollarama stores in Rosemère and Sainte-Thérèse.
It’s worth noting that food products vary greatly between Dollarama stores, even when they’re located in the same city. In addition, there are smaller formats or quantities that may not be equivalent at Walmart and Dollarama. The price per 100 grams or per 100 ml has therefore been used in the table below.
As always, shoppers need to look at best-before dates and the provenance of the food they are buying.
Dollarama is the winner!
Walmart: $ 97.49
Dollarama: $ 86.73
Difference: $ 10.76
Thanks to this comparison, Dollarama offers the lowest basket price by 12.4% compared with Walmart, for the same products.
In our analysis of the cheapest grocery store, we could use one of these cards that give the most cash back or rewards points at Walmart:
Unfortunately, even with 5% cash back (5% of $97.49 = $4.87), this wouldn’t even close the price gap between Walmart and Dollarama.
Dollarama is not considered a grocery store by credit card issuers. It’s a store coded”Other“, so it will yield only the minimum of rewards.
However, Dollarama has a partnership with AIR MILES until next November. Simply link a Mastercard credit card to your AIR MILES membership account. Every purchase of $30 or more charged to the card earns 10 AIR MILES miles. Here’s how to earn AIR MILES at Dollarama.
At Dollarama, there are no fresh produce, refrigerated or frozen products. For a healthier diet, a consumer will have to go to a grocery store to top up with milk, butter or fresh fruit and vegetables.
So you’ll need to factor in extra time and transport costs to get to the second shop.
Dollarama groceries aren’t always a bargain, but most of the time they are. Dollarama is a great place to go to save money and spend less on many items. Don’t forget to compare prices with other supermarkets’ flyers to ensure you get the best value for your money.
In fact, some weeks, other grocery stores may have excellent specials on certain products that will be less expensive than at Dollarama. The latter does not offer flyers or promotions.
To sum up, to save you need to :
All products are available online at dollarama.com.
Offers vary according to season, product and even region.
Dollarama is a direct competitor to low-price grocery stores like Super C, Maxi and Walmart. It offers lower prices, good value for money and a variety of similar products.
Dollarama doesn’t have private labels like No Name (Maxi), Selection (Super C) or Great Value (Walmart). It negotiates directly with its suppliers, often offering consumers quality products at a more affordable price than others.
Savings are here:
