Anyone who had to compare prices between retail chains before 2014 knows how tedious it was – calling stores, walking through supermarkets, writing prices on paper. Today the situation is completely different thanks to the Price Transparency Regulations in the Food Sector.
In 2014, the Competition Promotion in the Food Sector (Price Transparency) Regulations, 2014 came into force. The regulations were created under the Competition Promotion in the Food Sector Law, 2014, and require large retailers to publish their prices publicly on the internet.
What exactly are retailers required to do? According to the regulations, they must publish three types of files: a store network file (locations and addresses), a products and prices file (product name, barcode, and full price per product), and a promotions file (special offers). Each file must be in XML format, separately for each store in the chain.
Updates must be frequent and relevant. On every day a store is open, a full file must be published before opening time. Price changes, new products, or promotion updates must appear no later than one hour after the register update – so the information is always close to what you see in the store.
Accessibility of the data matters just as much. The files must be available for download in XML, Excel, Gzip, and Deflate formats. Retailer websites must maintain at least 99.5% uptime, and files are kept for three months. This allows checking history and tracking price changes over time.
This is exactly where Salai comes in. We use this public data – data the legislature determined must be transparent – to offer real-time price comparison. You build a cart, and the system compares it across Shufersal, Rami Levy, Victory, Yohananof, and other chains that comply with the regulations.
The Price Transparency Law was designed not only for transparency – it was designed to promote competition and help consumers make informed decisions. Salai delivers on that goal: turning complex public data into a simple tool that helps you save money on every purchase.
Our daily report shows the same average cart across retailers with a typical spread of 12%–13.4% between cheapest and most expensive. View daily report