PRESS RELEASE: You’d Be Shocked What You’re Overpaying For: The Surprising Price of Complacency

Most Australian shoppers believe they have a good sense of what their groceries should cost. A new analysis, however, reveals this confidence is often misplaced, with a phenomenon known as “price complacency” leading households to overspend by thousands of dollars a year unknowingly. A free AI-powered new tool, Grocerize.com.au, is now exposing the shocking reality of what things actually cost versus what we think they cost.

The platform’s real-time data proves that our memory is an unreliable guide in the face of the supermarkets’ dynamic pricing tactics. We mentally “anchor” the price of a regular item – like a block of cheese at $9 or a loaf of bread at $5 – and stop questioning it. However, the true daily prices fluctuate dramatically, and this complacency comes at a high cost.

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An analysis from Grocerize on a single day revealed:

A standard block of cheddar cheese, mentally anchored by many shoppers at around $9, actually ranged from $7.50 to $15 between the two major supermarkets.
A popular brand of tomato sauce showed a 45% price difference.
The cost of a 1kg bag of carrots, a household staple, varied by over 30%.

“Our brains aren’t built to track hundreds of constantly changing prices. We rely on mental shortcuts, and that’s where we get caught out,” says Blake Bennett, founder of Grocerize. “I was shocked when I first saw the raw data. I thought I was a savvy shopper, but I realised my perception of prices was often weeks, or even months, out of date. We built this tool to be a personal ‘reality check’ against that complacency.”
Behavioural experts note that this price anchoring is a cognitive bias that retailers understand and leverage.

Consumers anchor to a ‘fair price’ in their mind, often based on what they paid last time. If the price rises slightly, they may not notice or object. If it’s on special, they feel like they got a huge bargain, even if the ‘special’ price is higher than the other store’s regular price. Without real-time, objective data, the shopper is at a permanent disadvantage.”
Grocerize solves this by replacing flawed perception with hard facts. It removes the need for memory or guesswork by providing an unbiased, live snapshot of the market. This empowers shoppers to break free from complacency and make decisions based on current reality, not old habits.

“The question we want every Australian to ask is not ‘What do I think this costs?’, but ‘What does this actually cost right now?’” says Bennett. “The difference between those two questions can save you a fortune.”
To see the true price of your weekly shop and escape the complacency tax,

Visit https://www.grocerize.com.au/

Media Contacts:
Julian Townley CEO Grocerize | [email protected] | 0404 442 020
David Gollop CMO Grocerize | [email protected] | 0419 739 314

Media Assets:
Grocerize overview video here – https://youtu.be/3kSpE8WH9aQ
Video sound bites from Blake Bennett are available here- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/wi3aqcwe0sbv6js2r1bby/AIneJkCHCB9RGD_l6B0SnhU?rlkey=nklkht0a3q1jdvn7sxpjzlmqw&st=x0hy4o9k&dl=0
Photos available here- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/edxknjicztrwsawfn2p4t/AO5R82fw094MWN_llbhicGM?rlkey=3b2d5yft4p6sv6hdemryewj0i&st=c6zb20am&dl=0
Infographics available here- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/eadcc1j6wy3eey1m0v4ms/ANM9FxNRIaBVoKD4h5j5xXg?rlkey=c107lu064qh83umwihga4l9fl&st=zlgemjoq&dl=0
Graphic assets available here- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0nij4bcag5a0ixl2omvyp/AGV-b5xOGh8UdQ_vmemGJPo?rlkey=0qm47pgp5ymwu32154ph8j2x8&st=17a3d958&dl=0

Available for interview:
Blake Bennett, Founder of Grocerize.
Julian Townley, CEO

About Grocerize.com.au
Grocerize is a revolutionary Australian solution that empowers households to save money on their grocery shopping, easing financial pressure on families. In response to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, this no-cost, user-friendly website has become an essential resource for families seeking practical solutions and budget-friendly grocery shopping, saving users an impressive average of 28%.

Sources
Australian Loyalty Association
The Thrifty Issue- https://australianloyaltyassociation.com/australia-loyalty-programs-market-report-2025/
Yahoo- https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/woolworths-under-fire-for-everyday-rewards-changes-ill-be-cancelling-032857153.html
Finder.com.au- http://Finder.com.au