Dunnes 'cheapest' for babycare

Dunnes Stores is the cheapest retailer in the Republic when it comes to branded baby care products while Tesco is the most expensive, according to a survey published by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) today.

The survey focuses on baby care products including nappies, formula and baby food and reveals notable price differences between the main supermarkets. It also highlights a large number of special offers in this segment.

A basket of 105 common items including nappies and baby formula cost €520.24 in Dunnes Stores and €546.66 in Tesco, a difference of 5.1 per cent. The same items cost €523.50 in Superquinn.

The research found that while there were price differences of over 50 per cent on some baby products, 83 per cent of the overall price difference was accounted for by price differences in nappies. The consumer body checked the prices on 25 separate nappy products and recorded a difference of €21.94 or 10.9 per cent between Dunnes Stores and Tesco.

Special offers were a strong feature of the baby care products category and 48 special offers were identified in the three multiples. Tesco had 32 special offers with eight of those being ‘money off’ promotions. Dunnes Stores had 14 special offers with two offering money off while Superquinn had two special offers both of which offered consumers money back.

The Chief Executive of the NCA Ann Fitzgerald said the survey would arm parents “with information to track better value”. She described it as “telling” that while a saving of more than 5 per cent could be achieved across the baby care range “the savings in the particular case of that baby staple, nappies, are more significant at almost 11 per cent.” She urged consumers to be “proactive in checking prices and to realise the savings available to them.”

A comparison of six common own-brand products including nappies and baby wipes in Lidl, Tesco and Aldi revealed an identical total price of €30.20 in the German discounters at with Tesco working out slightly more expensive at €31.07, a difference of 2.9 per cent

The agency also launched a "baby budget planner" to help expectant parents budget for the essentials before their baby is born. “New parents often don’t know what they need to budget for and can feel pressurised into buying the best of everything for their new arrival. Our planner will help parents map out their spending so that they set a budget and decide on their priorities from there,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

The full results of the baby care products price comparison survey and the baby budget planner are available on www.consumerconnect.ie