The Complete WiseList Grocery Shopping Guide
Grocery shopping shouldn’t require five different apps, multiple supermarket websites and a calculator just to work out where your money is going.
WiseList is a grocery shopping app for Australians designed to bring the most important parts of your grocery routine together in one place.
Create and manage your grocery list, compare prices across Coles, Woolworths and ALDI, explore different shopping options with Split by Store, and keep track of what’s already sitting in your fridge and pantry.
Whether you’re trying to save money on your weekly shop, organise groceries for your family or simply make shopping less stressful, WiseList helps you plan before you shop.
What Can You Do With WiseList?
WiseList brings several grocery management tools together:
| WiseList feature | What it helps you do |
| Grocery List | Organise everything you need to buy |
| Grocery Comparison | Compare supported prices across Coles, Woolworths and ALDI |
| Split by Store | Explore potential savings by splitting your shop |
| Build My Shop | Generate a grocery shop based on your household needs |
| Fridge List | Keep track of food stored in your fridge |
| Pantry List | Keep track of pantry items |
| Expiry Tracking | Receive reminders before items expire |
| Recipe Saving | Save recipes and organise their ingredients |
| Meal Planning | Organise meals around your household |
| Shared Lists | Coordinate shopping with others |
| Scan Receipts | Organise Receipts automatically with Fridge & Pantry List & track spending |
You don’t have to use every feature. Start with the part of grocery shopping that causes you the most frustration and build your routine from there.
How to Create a Grocery List With WiseList
Your grocery list is the starting point for your shopping trip. Instead of relying on memory or a note on your phone, WiseList gives you one place to organise the products you need.
Step 1: Open Your Grocery List
Open WiseList and navigate to your Grocery List.
Step 2: Search for Your Groceries
Use the search function to find the products you want to add.
You can build your list around your normal weekly shop, a particular meal plan or a once-off shopping trip.
Step 3: Organise Your Items
Add the products you need to your list and review everything before you shop.
A well organised list can help you avoid the classic supermarket problem:
“I went in for five things and somehow came out with twenty.”
Step 4: Compare Before You Shop
Once your list is ready, WiseList can help you compare supported grocery prices across major Australian supermarkets. This means you can make your shopping decision before you arrive at the checkout.
Compare Grocery Prices Across Coles, Woolworths and ALDI
One of WiseList’s key features is grocery price comparison.
You can compare supported grocery items across:
- Coles
- Woolworths
- ALDI
This can help you understand where your grocery list may offer the best value. If you’re specifically looking for an Australian grocery price comparison app, WiseList is designed to make this process easier than manually checking multiple supermarket websites.
Can WiseList Compare ALDI?
Yes. WiseList supports ALDI comparison.
However, there is an important distinction that shoppers should understand. ALDI doesn’t stock exactly the same range of products and brands as Coles and Woolworths. Many ALDI products are exclusive to ALDI or sold under ALDI’s own private label brands.
That means not every product can have a direct 1:1 comparison between ALDI, Coles and Woolworths.
For example, you might find:
| Product type | Coles | Woolworths | ALDI |
| Milk | Comparable | Comparable | Often comparable |
| Bananas | Comparable | Comparable | Comparable |
| Eggs | Comparable | Comparable | Comparable |
| Major branded cereal | May be available | May be available | May not have the same brand |
| ALDI-exclusive product | No equivalent | No equivalent | ALDI only |
For everyday products such as fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and other comparable grocery items, ALDI can often be included in the comparison.
For products where ALDI sells a different brand or an exclusive product, there may not be a direct equivalent.
Why This Matters
A genuine grocery comparison shouldn’t pretend that two completely different products are identical simply because they occupy the same category.
WiseList helps you compare supported and comparable products, while recognising that supermarket ranges aren’t identical.
This gives shoppers a more realistic way to understand their options.
Read our full guide to [comparing Coles, Woolworths and ALDI with WiseList].
What Is Split by Store?
If you’re willing to shop at more than one supermarket, WiseList’s Split by Store feature can help you explore another option.
Instead of asking:
“Which supermarket is cheapest?”
you can also ask:
“Could I save more by buying different items at different supermarkets?”
Split by Store can compare your grocery list and organise your shopping into store-based lists.
For example:
Woolworths Shopping List
Products that WiseList identifies for Woolworths.
Coles Shopping List
Products that WiseList identifies for Coles.
ALDI Shopping List
Products that WiseList identifies for ALDI where comparable products are available.
Split by Store Shopping List
A combination of stores based on the comparison available for your list.
The goal is to help you understand your options rather than forcing you into a single supermarket.
One Supermarket or Multiple Supermarkets?
There isn’t one correct answer.
The cheapest theoretical basket isn’t necessarily the best option for every household.
| Shopping approach | Best for |
| One supermarket | Convenience |
| Two supermarkets | Balance between savings and convenience |
| Multiple supermarkets | Potential maximum savings |
| Online shopping | Saving time |
| Split by Store | Comparing different shopping combinations |
For example, saving $8 might not be worthwhile if it requires driving 30 minutes to another supermarket.
WiseList gives you information so you can make that decision yourself.
Build Your Shop With WiseList
If starting your grocery list from scratch every week feels repetitive, Build My Shop can help.
Build My Shop is designed to make creating your grocery shop easier by helping generate a shopping list around your household requirements.
Instead of opening your grocery list and thinking:
“What do I need this week?”
you can start with a generated shop and then review, remove or add items as needed.
Learn more about [Build My Shop].
Keep Track of What’s Already in Your Fridge
Your grocery list tells you what you need to buy. Your fridge list helps you keep track of what you already have.
With WiseList, you can add items to your Fridge List by:
- Scanning a barcode
- Adding an item manually
- Setting an expiry date
You can then receive a notification one day or three days before an item’s expiry date.
This can help you remember food that needs to be used rather than discovering it at the back of the fridge after it has gone off.
Keep Your Pantry Organised
The same idea applies to your pantry.
Use the Pantry List to keep track of pantry items you’ve purchased.
You can:
- Scan products
- Add items manually
- Set expiry dates
- Track whether an item is open or sealed
- Receive expiry notifications
- Add items back to your grocery list when you need to restock
Open or Sealed?
WiseList also lets you mark an item as Open or Sealed.
This can help you manage products differently depending on whether they have already been opened.
You can determine the use-by timing manually or use WiseList’s recommended freshness timing where available.
From Grocery List to Fridge or Pantry
Your grocery shopping journey doesn’t have to stop when you check out.
Once you’ve purchased your groceries, you can organise them into your household inventory.
Think of the process as:
Grocery List → Shop → Fridge/Pantry → Use → Restock
When you finish an item, you can add it back to your grocery list so it doesn’t get forgotten during your next shop.
This creates a more complete grocery management routine.
After Shopping: Scan Your Receipt
Your grocery planning doesn’t have to stop when you leave the supermarket.
After shopping, use Scan Receipt to photograph your Coles, Woolworths or ALDI receipt. WiseList reads the products and prices, records your spending and automatically updates your Fridge and Pantry with the groceries you’ve purchased.
This helps keep your kitchen inventory accurate without manually entering everything after a big shop.
Save Recipes and Turn Them Into Grocery Planning
Found a recipe you want to make?
WiseList’s Save a Recipe feature lets you save recipes using:
- A website link
- A photo or screenshot
- Recipe text
Instead of keeping recipes scattered across browser bookmarks, screenshots and notes, you can keep them organised within WiseList.
Saved recipes can then become part of your broader meal and grocery-planning routine.
Learn more about [Save a Recipe].
Plan Meals Around Your Groceries
Meal planning and grocery shopping naturally work together. Rather than buying random ingredients and figuring out how to use them later, you can plan meals around what you want to cook.
For example:
| Meal | Main ingredients |
| Monday | Chicken stir fry |
| Tuesday | Pasta |
| Wednesday | Tacos |
| Thursday | Leftovers |
| Friday | Homemade pizza |
This can help you create a more purposeful grocery list. If you’re interested in meal planning, explore our AI meal planner to learn more about how WiseList can help with meal planning.
Share Your Grocery List
Grocery shopping isn’t always done by one person. Maybe your partner is at Coles while you’re at work. Maybe one person remembers the groceries while another person does the shopping. Or perhaps you’re managing groceries with housemates.
WiseList’s shared grocery list functionality helps make it easier to coordinate your shopping list with other people.
Instead of sending messages like: “Can you please get milk?” you can keep the shopping information in one place.
A Smarter Weekly Grocery Routine
You don’t need to use every WiseList feature every day. A simple weekly routine could look like this.
Before the Week Starts
Check your fridge list and pantry list.
Plan Your Meals
Decide what you want to cook during the week.
Build Your Shop
Use Build My Shop to help create your grocery list.
Review Your List
Remove anything you already have.
Compare Prices
Use grocery price comparison to compare supported products across Coles, Woolworths and ALDI.
Consider Split by Store
See whether shopping across multiple supermarkets could offer potential savings.
Go Shopping
Use your final grocery list while shopping.
Put Everything Away
Add your new groceries to your fridge or pantry list.
Keep Track
Monitor expiry dates and use food before it goes to waste.
Why Use WiseList for Grocery Shopping?
There are plenty of grocery list apps.
There are supermarket apps.
There are recipe apps.
There are meal planning apps.
And there are price comparison tools.
The problem is that using several different apps can create another organisational headache.
WiseList brings multiple parts of the grocery process together.
| Instead of… | WiseList helps you… |
| Remembering what you need | Create a grocery list |
| Checking several supermarkets | Compare supported grocery prices |
| Guessing what is in the fridge | Track your fridge |
| Forgetting pantry items | Track your pantry |
| Missing expiry dates | Set expiry reminders |
| Starting your shopping list from scratch | Use Build My Shop |
| Keeping recipes in random places | Save recipes |
| Planning meals separately | Organise meal planning |
| Sending shopping texts | Use shared lists |
The aim is simple: Make grocery shopping more organised, informed and easier to manage.