With all of the natural and organic online sites available, it’s hard to know if shopping online creates a better deal than shopping at a traditional bricks and mortar store.
Which Has The Better Prices – Whole Foods or Vitacost
I bought the exact same items at both Whole Foods and Vitacost. I hope by showing you the comparison, you are able to determine what is better way to shop for your family.
Items purchased:
- Lundbergs California Brown Basmati Rice (2 lbs),
- Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner,
- Bob’s Red Mill Golden Flax Seed (24 oz),
- Dr. Bonner’s Magic Fresh Pressed Virgin Coconut Oil (14 oz),
- Wholesome Sweetners Organic Blue Agave (44 oz),
- CLIF Bar Crunchy Peanut Butter Bars (12 bars),
- Bob’s Red Mill Non-Aluminum Double Acting Baking Powder (16 oz),
- Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat and Gluten Flour (22 oz),
- Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned Oats Organic, Pack of 2 (32 oz),
- Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Milk, Pack of 4 (32 oz),
- Chocolove Dark Chocolate With Almonds & Sea Salt, Pack of 4 (3.2 oz),
- and Eden Foods Organic Black Beans, Pack of 4 (15 oz).
Total Whole Foods With Tax: $98.86
Total Vitacost With Tax & Shipping: $93.35
Savings of 5.5% (plus I didn’t have to go to the store).
Findings
- Anything from Bob’s Red Mill is between 20 to 30% less at Vitacost than Whole Foods. So if you use their products on a regular basis, you are missing out by not shopping at Vitacost.
- Blue Diamond Almond Milk was 14% less at Vitacost ($2.39 vs $2.79).
- Items that you can purchase by the case, like the CLIF bars, may be cheaper at Whole Foods because they offer an additional 10% case discount.
(And honestly, I didn’t even discuss how much you can save on supplements at Vitacost…that may have to be another post.)
In addition, Vitacost offers a Set & Save Program where you will receive an additional 10% of your locked-in lowest price, which can help you save even more. And shipping is FREE with a $49 or more purchase.
Plus if you are new to Vitacost, you can take $10 off your first $30 purchase when you use this link. It allows you try them out and save even more money.
In the end, determining which store to shop at comes down to three things:
- Knowing your prices.
- Figuring the worth of your time.
- Travel expense.
I’m a big proponent of shopping online, because in my opinion I get all three. I save time, save expense on my car and save money when I know my prices and shop smart. Also, I tend to not overbuy when I shop online…less impulse buying than at a brick and mortar store.
Take a look around Vitacost and see if you are able get better bargains with your shopping list than Whole Foods.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Vitacost. While compensated, the written remarks are entirely my own, as well as my love of online shopping. Want more information – check out my full disclosure statement.
I’m a huge vitacost fan… especially for supplements (best quality at the lowest price… double win!) and natural cleaning products. I tend to forget about them for food items… time for another look! They also run decent coupon specials (this week, they ran a 48 hour 12% off coupon) and they run a lot of BOGO half sales.
KCatty – we buy all of our supplements and vitamins from Vitacost exclusively because their price can.not.be.matched. And I agree about their sales…I was also able to take advantage of the 12% off sale. Nice discount on top of great prices.