Can a grocery price comparison app actually change the way Americans shop? Matt Goynes and Micheal Waldroup, co-founders and co-CEOs of Grocery Dealz, say the data already proves it can.
In a recent episode of the Omni Talk Retail Technology Spotlight Series, hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sat down with two of their most popular returning guests to get the full update on Grocery Dealz, a real-time grocery price comparison app that is now live in 40 states and gaining significant traction with both consumers and the retail industry.
What Is Grocery Dealz?
At its core, Grocery Dealz is the first grocery price comparison shopping app built for consumers. But it’s also a B2B SaaS platform designed to help retailers and CPG brands influence purchase decisions before a shopper ever walks through the door. The app allows users to compare grocery prices across multiple stores in real time, build a shopping list, explore substitutions, and either save their list or check out directly through Instacart, all in roughly four and a half minutes.
The user experience is intentionally streamlined around three steps: choose your store, search your items, and compare. The goal, as Matt put it, is to get you to the answer of “who is cheapest” as fast as possible.
The Real-Time Pricing Question
One of the most technically complex aspects of what Grocery Dealz does is sourcing live pricing data. As Micheal Waldroup explained, the company currently licenses that data from an anonymous third-party provider that uses web scraping to pull prices from retailer websites. Retailers don’t have to do anything on their end to participate, the data comes in regardless.
The longer-term goal is direct API partnerships with retailers, which would allow Grocery Dealz to show the fully loaded lowest price, including member pricing, digital coupons, promotions, and discounts. Several major retailers have expressed interest in that kind of partnership, and as Matt noted, the complexity of pricing catalog feeds means it could be one to two years or longer before direct API integrations are in place for most. In the meantime, live coupon and savings data is already being integrated into the next version of the app.
Why Retailers Are Leaning In, Not Pushing Back
It might seem counterintuitive for a grocery retailer to embrace an app that shows their prices side-by-side with their competitors. But according to Matt and Micheal, the conversations they’ve had with executives at HEB, Albertsons, Kroger, Grocery Outlet, and others have been overwhelmingly positive.
The reason is straightforward: 77% of Americans are already comparison shopping for groceries. They’re just doing it the hard way, e.g. opening multiple browser tabs, driving to multiple stores, or doing mental math in the aisle. Grocery Dealz automates that existing behavior. As Matt pointed out, price transparency in grocery is coming whether retailers are ready or not. The question is whether they want a seat at the table. The retailers who are paying attention, he suggested, are already building strategies around it.
The Instacart Partnership
One of the most significant recent milestones for Grocery Dealz is its partnership with Instacart. For the first time, consumers can compare grocery prices across stores and then have those groceries delivered directly to their home, without re-entering their shopping list. Users who want the convenience of delivery can compare first, find the best price, and then transfer their full list into Instacart seamlessly.
Matt was clear that Grocery Dealz is not trying to change consumer shopping behavior. It’s designed to fit within it. Roughly 75 to 80 percent of grocery purchases still happen in physical stores, and that’s fine. The app is built to be a starting point, not a disruption. For those who already love Instacart, it just makes that experience smarter.
How the Business Makes Money
Free consumer apps have a long history of struggling to find sustainable monetization, but Grocery Dealz has built what Matt described as a diversified revenue model with three primary streams.
The first is affiliate marketing commissions. When users are directed into a retailer’s site, app, or Instacart to complete a purchase, Grocery Dealz earns a commission on that qualified traffic. These are what Matt calls “hand raisers,” shoppers who have already built a list, done their comparison, and chosen where to buy.
The second is a retail media marketplace built directly into the app. As a shopper builds their list, CPG brands can feature specific products in a dedicated section adjacent to the shopping list. Early beta data showed that roughly one in four users added a featured item to their cart, and those same users returned to do it an average of four more times within 60 days.
The third is licensing the comparison engine itself. Grocery Dealz is in conversations with at least one major retailer about licensing their technology as an API widget that could be embedded in that retailer’s own website or app, letting them show competitor pricing alongside their own. Matt drew a parallel to the travel industry, where major brands eventually embraced price comparison as a trust-building tool rather than a threat.
The Bigger Picture: Is Price Comparison Enough to Change Grocery Behavior?
Chris Walton closed the interview with a pointed question: is price comparison alone enough to fundamentally change how consumers shop for groceries, or does the behavior change have to come first?
Matt’s answer was grounded in precedent. Travel is now almost entirely comparison-driven. Gas prices became comparison-shopped the moment GasBuddy existed. Prescription drug pricing changed with GoodRX. In every category where transparent price comparison tools emerged, consumer behavior followed. He argued the same arc is already underway in grocery. It just started accelerating during COVID when prices spiked and households started feeling the pressure.
The numbers make the case. Families of four using the app are seeing upwards of $60 in weekly savings by buying the exact same items from a different store. Micheal Waldroup put it simply: people spend as much on groceries in a week as they might on a hotel night or a plane ticket. They comparison shop for both of those. Why wouldn’t they do the same for something they buy every single week?
What’s Next
With 40 states live and version 2.0 in market, the team is focused on integrating live coupon and savings data into the next version of the app, continuing national expansion, and educating retailers, CPG brands, and consumers on the opportunity.
To hear the full conversation, watch or listen to this episode of the Omni Talk Retail Technology Spotlight Series wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Amazon Music | YouTube
Be careful out there,
– Chris, Anne, and the Omni Talk team
P.S. See our past 8 years of wonderful Spotlight Series podcast guests, featuring roughly 200 movers and shakers in retail, by clicking here
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.